Societal Context

The meeting was designed to consider how, within the new legal landscape, institutions of higher education can continue to accelerate opportunities, increase access, and improve experiences and outcomes in higher education for students of color while following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to ban consideration of applicants’ racial status in higher education admissions processes, and how to do so in an environment where some state initiatives are limiting other diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts. While most sessions were future-focused, the initial sessions sought to consider what led to this decision and the current state of higher education. Speakers acknowledged that racist policies and norms of practice that persist today can be traced back to racism in the founding and early history of the United States. While some progress has been made, the violent removal of indigenous populations, the centuries-long system of slavery, and the subsequent “Jim Crow” laws and policies made to subordinate people of color still affect every aspect of American life today, including higher education. Speakers highlighted that higher education institutions have not adequately addressed their historic roles in structural racism, with long-standing policies perpetuating racial impacts even today. Speakers argued that this context and framing are why equitable higher education has yet to be realized, and one speaker outlined seven ways racial inequities are perpetuated by higher education:

• Unwillingness to Acknowledge History. Higher education leaders and faculty have not, but must, recognize the lasting societal impacts of America’s history of horrific slavery and racist laws, policies, and events. One example, among many, is some institutions’ hesitation to acknowledge their past by continuing to praise and publicly recognize figures who were slaveholders and those who supported systems of slavery and racial segregation. Promotion of this sort adversely affects the daily experiences of students of color, just as similar actions beyond higher education do so throughout American culture.
• Silence in History Education and Inadequate Pedagogy in K–12. Higher education has not yet adequately supported student-centered, effective, equitable teaching and learning in K–12. Higher education leaders also have neither widely nor publicly denounced efforts in K–12 education that misrepresent history. University leaders’ silence is an enabler whereas presidents and provosts providing evidence-based challenges to support K–12 developments could help stem them. 
• Inadequate Teacher Training for K–12 Students. Teachers are primarily trained at colleges and universities. However, schools often use outdated or ineffective teaching methods rather than leverage abundantly available research-backed, student-centered, equitable methods. This fails the teachers and ultimately their students.
• Insufficient Support for Students from Underresourced Schools and Communities. Higher education institutions in general, but primarily those that are highly resourced, do not provide enough financial support or resources to support low-wealth/income students, who are disproportionately students of color. Therefore, students from less-resourced schools and their families often overcome more challenges than others to get to, and through, college. Eliminating legacy admissions may be a way to communicate greater focus on equity, but it is largely performative in many institutions. To positively impact student access, opportunities, and outcomes, higher education institutions need to refocus student recruitment efforts toward socioeconomic status and geography, reallocate a substantial amount of financial support away from merit-based aid to need-based aid, and simplify and provide more transparency and guidance to students about the application and financial aid processes. If such an approach were comprehensibly and thoughtfully designed and applied, it might have a far greater impact than affirmative action alone.
• Failing to Utilize Community Colleges. The conversation on racial equity in higher education often centers on elite institutions. However, most students attend non-elite institutions or community colleges. Furthermore, a large percentage of students of color do not enroll at any college; and those who do enroll often do not receive the necessary support to graduate. Better resourcing and a stronger emphasis on community colleges would increase students’ access to, and success in, college and beyond.
• Affirmative Action Was Never Fully Used to Increase Opportunities. Institutions have failed to fully implement and effectively articulate the justification for affirmative action, even when it was more fully available. As such, the public and other stakeholders lack an understanding of its broad beneficial impact and value, as well as its imperative for fairness. Higher education needs to develop effective, public-facing communications to explain why equitable and diverse learning communities are valuable for society and how to achieve this outcome.
• Equity Is Difficult (but Possible). While the Supreme Court’s ruling has increased the challenges, the biggest barriers to racial equity are commitment and willingness to effect systemic change. There are plenty of steps that higher education leaders can take—it’s just hard.