One of the nation’s most elite liberal arts schools, Amherst College has historically also been one of its most diverse. In 2023, federal data revealed that its overall Black enrollment, 11 percent of the student body, far outstripped many other similar institutions. So it was particularly jarring to the Amherst community last fall when data…
The New York State Education Department on Friday issued a defiant response to the Trump administration’s threats to pull federal funding from public schools over certain diversity, equity and inclusion programs, a remarkable departure from the conciliatory approach of other institutions in recent weeks. Daniel Morton-Bentley, the deputy commissioner for legal affairs at the state…
Should legacy admissions survive in Ivy League schools post-affirmative action? The practice of legacy admissions is once again under intense scrutiny, particularly within Ivy League institutions, as public opposition and legislative action continue to rise. Legacy admissions, where children of alumni receive preferential treatment in the college admissions process, have long been a controversial topic….
Over the last few months, University of California officials have boasted that they have admitted the most racially diverse class ever to their sprawling system. They have managed to do this, they say, despite a 28-year-old state ban on considering race in college admissions, known as Proposition 209. But a lawsuit filed on Monday by…
Stephan Thernstrom, a Harvard history professor and author who, with his wife, the political scientist Abigail Thernstrom, vaulted to national prominence during the 1990s as a leading critic of affirmative action, died on Thursday in Arlington, Va. He was 90. His daughter, the author Melanie Thernstrom, said his death, at a care facility, was from…
On June 29, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court made a landmark decision, ruling against race-based affirmative action policies in college admissions. The 6-3 decision concluded that using race as a factor in admissions violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This ruling, which…