*Following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that banned race-based admissions, Harvard University‘s freshman class saw a significant drop in Black students, from 18% last year to 14% for the Class of 2028.
According to Reuters, the percentage of Hispanic students increased slightly from 14% to 16%. While some top schools like Yale and Princeton reported minimal changes, others experienced notable declines in minority enrollment. For example, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology saw a drop in its percentage of Black, Hispanic, Native American, and Pacific Islander students to 16%, and Brown University reported reductions in both Black and Hispanic student percentages.
Despite the changes, the proportion of Asian American students at Harvard remained stable at 37%.
“We have worked very hard for many decades to ensure that students from every background come to Harvard and make a difference to their classmates, the nation, and the world,” William Fitzsimmons, dean of admissions and financial aid, said in a statement, Newsweek reports.
“We will continue to fulfill our mission, even as we continue to follow the law with great care,” he added.
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The drop in Black student enrollment has alarmed diversity advocates. Jeannie Park, co-founder of the Coalition for a Diverse Harvard, expressed concern that reduced numbers of students of color can significantly impact the campus environment.
“Harvard must address why it fell short, especially compared to other colleges,” Park said in a statement, per Newsweek. “Practices such as reinstating test-optional applications and ending legacy and donor preferences—and much more—must be instituted asap.”
Harvard was at the center of a 2023 Supreme Court case that claimed the university discriminated against Asian American applicants by favoring other minority groups.
Richard Kahlenberg, director of the American Identity Project at the Progressive Policy Institute, commended the school for maintaining diversity but raised concerns about the legality of its approach.
“The million dollar question is whether Harvard achieved racial diversity legally, by giving a boost to economically disadvantaged students of all races or by cheating and employing covert racial preferences,” said Kahlenberg, who testified for Students for Fair Admissions, the plaintiffs, in the Harvard trial, per Newsweek.
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