Two liberal arts colleges in Maine see little change in diversity after the end of affirmative action

Students walk across the campus of Bates College on Tuesday. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

Two of Maine’s largest private colleges say they have not seen drastic changes in their racial diversity, despite a Supreme Court ruling last year that ended race-conscious admissions.

The United States Supreme Court decision effectively ended affirmative action. The decision prohibits colleges from using race-conscious admissions practices, although the opinion does say schools can consider race through certain elements of an application, such as a personal statement essay.

Some private colleges in Maine strongly disagreed with the decision last summer and expressed their commitment to creating diverse student organizations, including for students who arrived on campus this fall, the first class affected by the ruling.

While other elite colleges and universities across the country reported changes in diversity among their incoming classes, liberal arts colleges in Maine say they have not yet seen major differences in their racial makeup.

BATES COLLEGE

Bates College in Lewiston is touting its class of 2028 as the most diverse in the school’s history and said it also has chosen from its largest applicant pool ever, with more than 10,000 prospective students.

The college says 32% of freshmen are students of color, not including international students (which colleges count separately from domestic students in racial data). There was also an increase in the number of Black and Latinx students, the college reported in August, despite the challenges imposed by the court ruling.

That’s a larger percentage than the school’s total enrollment, which currently consists of 27.6% students of color. According to enrollment data, the freshman class is approximately 58% white, 6.7% Asian, 4.7% black, 11.8% Hispanic and 9.4% multiracial. About 10% of the class consists of international students.

Bates College freshman Graca Bila, from Westbrook, studies outside on the Lewiston campus Tuesday. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

“Recruiting the Class of 2028 in the wake of the SCOTUS decision on race-based admissions was a new experience for our admissions team, but we leaned heavily on sharing that message of access, equity and inclusion with all applicants, Dean of Admissions Leigh Weisenburger said in a statement.

“In June 2023, on the day of the decision, we confidently and strongly communicated that we would follow the law while maintaining our commitment to a diverse student body,” she said. “I think Bates’ message resonated with prospective students, families and high school counselors, and we’ve supported it with more recruitment events and trips, more virtual engagement sessions, opportunities for first-generation students to come to Bates for a campus visit and making Of course, entire families, along with college counselors, knew what we had to offer. This will be an ongoing process as the new law continues to shift the admissions process nationwide.”

When the Supreme Court’s ruling was first announced, outgoing Bates President Clayton Spencer and new President Garry Jenkins co-signed a letter expressing strong disappointment in the decision and committing to pursuing racial diversity.

“We will not allow the court’s decision to diminish our commitment to our current students or the students we will continue to seek out. We will use this opportunity to do what we do best: think creatively and experiment with new strategies that comply with the law, allowing us to continue to form a class with diverse identities, life experiences, interests and perspectives,” they wrote.

They said diverse students, faculty and curriculum are critical to the university’s mission and would remain important in the wake of the court ruling.

Bates College senior Suhana Liedtke, from Hawaii, and sophomore Babacar Pouye, from Santa Barbara, California, work on a project for their American religious history class Tuesday. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

BOWDOIN COLLEGE

At Bowdoin College in Brunswick, the class of 2028 is 39% students of color. That’s a slight decrease from last year’s incoming class, which was 42% students of color.

The incoming freshman class is 54% white, 9.5% Asian, 5.7% black, 16% Hispanic and 7.7% multiracial. International students make up 6.7%, which colleges count separately from domestic students for racial data. The university’s total student population consists of 40% students of color, not including international students.

When the Supreme Court announced its ruling in June 2023, outgoing President Clayton Rose wrote a letter criticizing its implications.

“President-elect Safa Zaki and I have discussed these cases, and we share the view that today’s decision undermines the essential work to create an educational environment and experience that prepares students for the diverse worlds of work and for informed political and social involvement.” he wrote. “We also believe the decision undermines long-term efforts to identify and address the structural barriers faced by those in our society who have faced the most pervasive barriers to opportunity.”

He ended the letter with a commitment to maintaining diversity at the school while adhering to the mandates of the ruling.

The Bowdoin Chapel on the Brunswick College quad in April. Ben McCanna/Portland Press Herald file photo

Bowdoin’s Dean of Admissions and Student Aid Claudia Marroquin was not available for an interview about this year’s data, but told student newspaper The Bowdoin Orient in September that it is difficult to say based on just one year of data whether the decline is the result of the court’s ruling. She said her office had been eagerly awaiting the numbers, for Bowdoin and other colleges across the country.

“There was a bit of a feeling, not of relief, but the worst didn’t happen, at least not at Bowdoin. … I think it’s mixed emotions because we’re learning every day about different reports at different institutions and just trying to make sense of it. … We spent time on our data … and it appears that our student recruitment efforts have held up,” Marroquin told The Orient. “But there is certainly more work to be done.”

She said the Admissions Office changed its strategy in response to the court’s decision by visiting more high schools with high percentages of low-income students and paying attention to markers of socioeconomic status, such as eligibility for Pell Grant and first-generation status. She also said that while the university’s optional essay on dealing with differences is not intended to prompt students to talk about race, the admissions office can glean information from it.

“So in those essays or in the personal statement, if a student talks about their lived experience… that can be taken into consideration because you can’t separate a person’s experience from the values ​​that they draw and the inspiration that they gain from those moments,” she said.

Colby College in Waterville would not release its racial diversity data for the class of 2028, but shared other demographic information about the class.

“Seventeen percent are first-generation college students, 25% are from low-income families, and 14% are non-U.S. citizens,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

“Colby’s Office of Admissions and Financial Aid has long employed a holistic review process, evaluating each applicant as an individual within the context of their unique background,” the statement said. “Our goal is to identify talented and intellectually curious students who will contribute to Colby’s vibrant community of scholars.”

An announcement from the college in August stated that this year’s incoming class was selected from a pool of more than 19,000, the “largest and most competitive applicant pool in Colby’s history.”

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