Summary and Recommendations

This exploratory meeting was grounded in the principle that law is a design parameter for systems, policies, and initiatives, not an impenetrable barrier to equity and diversity. It recognized that, while higher education must comply with the 2023 U.S. Supreme Court ruling banning individual, race-conscious, higher education admissions processes, many strategies and policies are available to advance equity and diversity within the new legal parameters. Pivotal recommendations for university leaders included:

• Taking a comprehensive rather than selective approach to strengthening an institution’s commitment to equity and diversity;
• Building collaborative partnerships both within an institution and with other higher education institutions’ leader and stakeholder communities, including alumni, faculty, student, local, regional, and state communities;
• Identifying, reflecting on, and rectifying institutions’ systemic barriers and biases, efforts that may require data-rich self-assessments, structural changes, and the pursuit of new policies and programs;
• Clearly communicating the role of equity and diversity in the core educational mission to all stakeholders; and
• Infusing mission-relevant equity and diversity interests in all aspects of the institution, including definitions of merit and individual qualifications, pedagogy, and the recruitment, training, support, and reward of students, faculty, staff, and leadership.