Harvard Sees Slight Decline in New Black Students After Affirmative Action Ruling

Harvard University has reported a slight decline in the number of black students in its incoming freshman class, the first since its “race-conscious” admission policy was declared unconstitutional by the nation’s highest court.
Data released Sept. 11 by the Ivy League school showed 14 percent of the Class of 2028 identified as black, down from 18 percent last year. Hispanic and Latino enrollment grew by two percentage points to 16 percent, and the share of Asian-American students remained the same at 37 percent.
Data for white student enrollment was not made available. Meanwhile, some 8 percent of students chose not to disclose their racial or ethnic identity, doubling the percentage of those who opted not to do so last year.
“We have worked very hard for many decades to ensure that students from every background come to Harvard and make a difference to their fellow classmates, the nation, and the world,” William Fitzsimmons, dean of admissions and financial aid, said in a press release. “We will continue to fulfill our mission, even as we continue to follow the law with great care.”
The Coalition for a Diverse Harvard, a group of Harvard students and alumni advocating for diversity, equity, and inclusion, said they are “deeply distressed” by the data.
Harvard is the latest in a slowly growing list of highly selective colleges to release demographic data of their incoming classes, offering a glimpse into how the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling is affecting the admission of students from underrepresented backgrounds into top schools.
In a decision upending more than 40 years of precedent, the Supreme Court ruled last summer that it was unconstitutional for Harvard and the University of North Carolina (UNC) to take race into account in their admissions processes. The vote was 6–3 in the UNC case and 6–2 in the Harvard case because of the recusal of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
“The Harvard and UNC admissions programs cannot be reconciled with the guarantees of the Equal Protection Clause,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority. “Both programs lack sufficiently focused and measurable objectives warranting the use of race, unavoidably employ race in a negative manner, involve racial stereotyping, and lack meaningful endpoints.”
Similarly, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) said about 5 percent of its 1,102-member Class of 2028 identify as black, a dramatic drop from its 13 percent average of recent years. Hispanic and Latino students make up 11 percent of the incoming freshmen population, compared to 15 percent of the school’s current undergraduate student body.
However, it might be too early to draw conclusions about the impact of the ruling. At Princeton and Yale universities, for instance, the demographic composition of the incoming classes is remarkably similar to last year’s groups of freshman students who were admitted when affirmative actions were still allowed.
Meanwhile, Duke University announced that 14 percent of its new undergraduate class identify as Hispanic or Latino and 13 percent as black. Last year, these figures were 13 percent for Latino and 12 percent for black students.
Many schools have not yet released demographic data for their incoming classes.