I read with interest Fred Strebeigh’s column discussing Yale students’ unparalleled success in national writing competitions over the last two decades (“Creating a college of writers,” Feb. 26). Professor Strebeigh cites several factors that have helped scores of undergraduates flourish into talented writers while at Yale, and I agree with all of them. But his column does not recognize perhaps the most significant factor: Professor Strebeigh himself.

Thomas Kaplan

March 1

The writer is a senior in Silliman College and the former editor-in-chief of the News.