Harvard students voice concern after black enrollment decline | News

Some Harvard students said they were disappointed with the racial makeup of the class of 2028, after Harvard College reported a drop in the number of Black students on Wednesday.

The current freshmen are the first group admitted to the college after the Supreme Court overturned the affirmative action decision last summer, a decision many predicted would lead to a dramatic drop in the number of black students.

In the class of 2028, 8 percent of applicants chose not to disclose their race or ethnicity — a notable jump from 4 percent of students in the class of 2027. The data released by the college this year reflects the percentage of students who chose to disclose their racial or ethnic identity.

The Coalition for a Diverse Harvard, a group of Harvard students and alumni that advocates for diversity in higher education, wrote in a statement that the group was “deeply disturbed” by the data.

“Harvard must explain why it falls short, especially compared to other universities,” the group wrote.

However, Harvard is not the only university reporting a decline in the number of black students in the class of 2028.

MIT data showed a sharp decline in black and Latino enrollment. The percentage of black students dropped from 15 percent in the class of 2027 to 5 percent in the class of 2028. The percentage of Hispanic and Latino students dropped from 16 percent to 11 percent. The percentage of white students was 37 percent, while the percentage of Asian American students jumped from 40 percent to 47 percent.

At Amherst College in Massachusetts, the percentage of black students also fell dramatically, from 11 percent to 3 percent, while the percentage of white and Asian American students increased.

The Coalition for a Diverse Harvard also called on the university to reinstate its test-optional admissions policy and final preferences for applicants with an inheritance.

The Harvard-Radcliffe Asian American Association wrote in a statement Wednesday that the group “rejects the notion that affirmative action discriminates against Asian Americans.”

“We believe that equity in admissions is critical to removing barriers for marginalized groups,” the group wrote.

David E. Lewis ’24-25, a student leader with the Affirmative Action Coalition at Harvard, said he worried that the increase in students refusing to report their race “might inflate the numbers somewhat.”

The individual percentage change varied by less than 5 points within racial groups, so at many points the Class of 2028 was resembles the lessons for it. While many students did not notice a change in the racial makeup of the freshman class, members of racial minority groups said they noticed a shift in the student population.

“I haven’t really noticed a difference,” said Caroline M. Fouts ’28. “I think I just see everyone and try to be friends with everyone and meet new people.”

Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 poses for a photo with students from the class of 2028 during the move-in. By J. Sellers Hill

Lewis said he felt the actual presence of black freshmen on campus had declined.

“We have GroupMe chats every year for black freshmen and the current GroupMe chat for this particular class of freshmen is less than half of what it normally is,” Lewis added.

Lewis urged Harvard to further increase its commitment to diversity, saying Harvard’s actions leading up to the Supreme Court’s decision to end affirmative action were still not enough to correct the university’s history of “participation in slavery and the exploitation of black labor and black people for hundreds of years.”

The percentage of Native American students in the class of 2028 dropped to 1 percent. Lena M. Tinker ’25, president of Native Americans at Harvard, said that while the percentage declines “seem small,” it had an “outsized impact in reversing recent gains.”

Tinker said her biggest concern for institutions that have historically excluded minorities is whether “students from diverse backgrounds feel comfortable applying to the school.”

“I definitely think it influences people’s decisions to apply,” she said.

Many other students indicated that they were surprised or dissatisfied with the data.

Jurni A. DeLoach ’27 wrote in an email that while the racial makeup did not surprise her, she was disappointed with the numbers.

“While I recognize that this is a relatively small decline, that does not deny the fact that this indicates a troubling downward trend in black student enrollment at elite universities,” DeLoach wrote.

Agustin J. Leon-Saenz ’25, Fuerza Latina’s vice president, said he was pleased with the increased representation of Hispanic students, but found it “disheartening” that the increase did not translate to other minority groups.

The share of international students in the class of 2028 rose from 15.2 percent last year to 16 percent.

The college reported that the percentage of students identifying as Asian American remained the same as the previous year.

Yukong Zhao, president of the Asian American Coalition for Education, a nonprofit that advocates against affirmative action, said affirmative action was only a “Band-Aid.”

Zhao said he believes the decline in black enrollment at MIT and Harvard is not a result of the Supreme Court ruling, but instead a reflection of “the failings of K-12 education in too many black and Hispanic communities.”

In an email Wednesday to Harvard announcing the admissions data, Arts and Sciences Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra wrote that it could take several admissions rounds before the full impact of the Supreme Court’s decision on class composition can be determined.

“As university leadership argued when the court’s ruling was announced, the change in law has not changed our fundamental obligations,” Hoekstra wrote.

—Staff writer Michelle N. Amponsah can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @mnamponsah.

—Contributor Samantha D. Wu can be reached at [email protected].

—Contributor Katie B. Tian can be reached at [email protected].