What the Supreme Court's Affirmative Action Ruling Means for BC 

The Supreme Court’s ruling last summer that gutted affirmative action policies at colleges and universities was met by 电子游戏软件 administrators with frustration and disappointment, but also with a commitment to work within the law to further the University’s longstanding efforts to enroll diverse and talented classes. 

“电子游戏软件 has greatly benefited from a student body of varied backgrounds, which has enriched intellectual discourse and social life on our campus,大学校长William P. SJ Leahy在一份声明中说. 在继续,Fr. 莱希说 that “while the law has changed, the values and goals of 电子游戏软件 have not. The University remains committed to the transformative power of education and to enrolling a student body that reflects American society, 依法办事.” 

电子游戏软件 Law Professor and Dean’s Distinguished Scholar Kent Greenfield, 最高法院的专家, 批评该裁决. For mission-driven schools like BC, Greenfield said, “a diverse student body is essential. 各种种族的多样性, 性, 社会经济, ideological—is important in constructing a student community that reflects the school’s commitments to social justice and searching for truth. The court’s ruling will make it much more difficult for us to achieve the kind of diversity we aspire to have here on campus. 多样性让我们更优秀. 它使课堂体验更好. 它使社区更强大. The court’s ruling harms us as a community, and our teaching and learning will suffer.”

历史教授马丁·萨默斯, who recently completed his term as director of the African and African Diaspora Studies program, said that future undergraduate classes are likely to be less racially diverse at predominantly white institutions across the country. “我觉得很有趣,萨默斯说, “that the same people who are advocating for making higher education institutions more diverse in terms of political viewpoints have no problem with making the student bodies at those universities less diverse in terms of race, 社会经济背景, 生活经历, 诸如此类. As our student body becomes more racially and 社会经济ally homogenous, I think ultimately our campus culture will become impoverished.”

Dean of Undergraduate Admission and Financial Aid Grant Gosselin said that the court’s decision is likely to have a negative impact on the efforts of the nation’s elite universities to enroll representative populations of students. “近几十年来, each of the states that have banned the consideration of race in college admission has seen measurable declines in the enrollment of students from underserved backgrounds,戈瑟林说. “The nation’s leading private universities are now likely to face these same challenges.” He expressed pride in the University’s work to increase the enrollment of underrepresented students at BC. 

事实上, this fall’s first-year class is the University’s most accomplished and racially diverse ever, with a record 38 percent of students identifying as AHANA, and 11 percent who are first-generation college students. These numbers reflect more than just a commitment to enrolling a diverse student body, Fr. 莱希在声明中指出. They also speak to the University’s investment in the education of students from under-resourced communities. 作为一个无视需求的机构, BC will continue to allocate millions of dollars to need-based undergraduate financial aid—including an expenditure of more than $166 million in 2023–2024—and through its academic support programs offered through BC’s Pine Manor Institute for Student Success. Fr. 莱希说 that BC will also continue to prioritize diversity “by building on its strong relationships with schools and community-based organizations and through its membership in QuestBridge, a national nonprofit program that helps outstanding high-need students earn scholarships to attend top colleges and universities.“明年呢?, 大学将开设墨西拿学院, a two-year residential program that will offer an associate’s degree program to approximately one hundred students each year, with the goal of preparing them to enroll in a bachelor’s degree program or begin their careers. 

《电子游戏正规平台》，Fr. 莱希说, 打算保持对耶稣会的忠诚, Catholic intellectual and religious heritage by enrolling talented, diverse students from across the United States and the world within the new parameters set by the court.”