Editorial: Concerns on a Post-Affirmative Action Amherst

Following the repeal of race-based affirmative action in admissions, Amherst saw a massive decrease in the percentage of incoming Black students from 11% in the class of 2027 to 3% in the class of 2028, according to federal reporting guidelines. While decreases in Black student enrollment were a feared, but somewhat expected result in the eyes of many once the Supreme Court decision was announced, the drop was noticeably stark at Amherst in comparison to many of our peer institutions — including Harvard, Yale, and Williams, just to name a few.

The Editorial Board, like much of the community, feels a deep sense of loss and fear as to the impacts this will have on our campus. Historically, race-conscious admissions have served as a baseline for other initiatives aimed to not only create a diverse learning environment, but also address existing educational inequities wherein marginalized groups have historically had less access to higher education. We have deep concerns about how the loss of this baseline will impact lived experiences on campus.

One major concern is a loss in student culture and community. Affinity groups such as Black Students Union and African & Caribbean Students’ Union, and affinity spaces such as Charles Drew House and La Casa play an important role in shaping campus culture by facilitating and maintaining BIPOC community at a predominately-white institution (PWI).

Spaces created by students and faculty outside of the official student organization framework are also at risk. One example: The Amherst area lacks easy access to natural hair care products and stylists, and as a result, Black student stylists have stepped up to provide that service to other students in their community. After realizing that Bo Oranye ’23 was the nearest option for getting a haircut, Assistant Professor of English Frank Leon Roberts began hosting “Bo’s Barbershop and Books” in his office to continue the “Black barbershop tradition of these informal spaces”. If the pool of Black students on campus continues to narrow dramatically, the intergenerational work that has historically and continues to maintain these spaces could be lost in the years to come.

The Editorial Board believes that there is an inherent value to maintaining a diverse learning environment beyond the necessary considerations of equitable access to education as well. Simply put, our classrooms are better when we move beyond echo chambers of people raised in the same places who think in the same way. Especially at PWIs like Amherst, where some students may self-segregate and/or maintain friend groups mostly within their specific cultures and ethnicities, maintaining a diverse classroom where voices of all perspectives and backgrounds can collaborate is paramount.  

We are thus concerned about a reversal in Amherst’s path towards greater diversity after a historically homogenous path. While Amherst’s reputation was once that of a preppy, WASP-y liberal arts college geared towards wealthy, white men, now the college prides itself  on its diverse student body — and it has taken great strides to maintain that status — whether that be through ending legacy admissions, for example, or remaining one of the few need-blind schools for international students.

The demographics of the class of 2028, however, raises concerns that it may be difficult for the college to maintain this forward motion in its future cohorts of students. We are in particular concerned about what is either a sheer lack of knowledge on the administration’s part on how such an extreme drop in Black enrollment took place — the wording of President Elliot’s email seems to imply as such — or a lack of clarity and transparency from them regarding information that they do have.

Historically, the college has undertaken a number of outreach efforts to diversify the applicant pool— efforts that culminated in diversity-oriented initiatives such as Access to Amherst (A2A), a fly-in program originally oriented towards applicants from historically underrepresented and disadvantaged backgrounds. Now, the college needs to, as it did before, work harder on its outreach. There are countless talented applicants nationwide who haven’t heard of Amherst College, or if they have, self-select themselves out of applying. The college cannot rely on programs such as A2A without a concentrated effort to make students aware of those opportunities before their senior year.

As the admissions cycle begins for the class of 2029, the Editorial Board urges the administration and the Office of Admission to consider how Amherst will rebuild its process to uphold the values of our college and community.

Unsigned editorials represent the views of the majority of the Editorial Board — (assenting: 13; dissenting: 0; abstaining: 0)