They aren’t surprised to learn that the position of Top Spook at the CIA is an equal opportunity post. (Class of 2017, #39)

Can someone explain what this one means? My first thought was that around 1995, the CIA must have hired its first woman or non-white director. Thus, the Class of 2017, who must follow such things, would know that the position is an “equal opportunity post.”

However, it appears that every CIA director has been a white man.

The best I can figure is that the item is a reference to John Deutch’s attempt to hire more women and minorities. In 1995, he made Nora Slatkin the CIA’s executive director, which was the #3 position, not the “Top Spook.”

If that’s the case, this item strikes all the regular Mindset List chords: (1) It refers to something that happened around the birth year of the class. (2) The vast majority of the class knows nothing about it. (3) If they knew, most of them wouldn’t care. (4) It clearly isn’t a “touchstone” nor does it have anything to do with the class’s “mindset.” (5) It’s so poorly written that it’s not clear to what exactly it refers.