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Students of color make up a smaller percentage of incoming classes at Tufts University and Amherst College compared to last year, The Boston Globe reported.
About 44 percent of Tufts freshmen are students of color—a six-point drop from the previous year. At Amherst, the decline was slightly steeper: Students of color comprise 38 percent of the incoming class, down from 47 percent last year.
The drops in racial diversity follow the Supreme Court’s decision in summer 2023 to ban the use of race-conscious policies in college admissions. Experts and college officials had worried the diversity of future classes would be diminished.
Data released last month from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology showed a similar decline in the number of freshmen of color.
JT Duck, dean of admissions at Tufts, said in a statement to the Globe that demographic data for the Class of 2028 shows a “disappointing drop.”
“Following the Supreme Court’s decision last June barring the use of race and/or ethnicity in and of itself as a factor in deciding whether to admit an applicant, we said then that we would, of course, respect the law, but the university’s vision of inclusive excellence continues to be mission critical and unwavering,” he said.
Officials at Amherst said the demographic changes in the incoming class were likely a result of the 2023 Supreme Court decision. In a letter to the college community obtained by the Globe, officials pledged to continue and “deepen” efforts to recruit students from diverse backgrounds, but they cautioned that the process will take time.
