Harvard, It’s Time for You To Explain Yourself

When Harvard released its admissions data Wednesday morning, I — like many of my peers — was outraged.

Beyond the new essay prompts, the last-minute SAT requirement, and the actual results of the data released, I am most appalled by Harvard’s laughable lack of transparency.

After the Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard overturned race-based affirmative action in June of 2023, I figured that Harvard might take some time to release the 2028 statistics. But it took more than four months after National College Decision Day to finally receive the results.

The data itself holds a palpable weight. While to some, the decline of Black students from 18 percent for the Class of 2027 to now 14 percent in the Class of 2028 seems small, for many Harvard students like myself, the stakes could not be higher. Left unchecked, the school’s acceptance rate of Black students could plummet. If the makeup of Harvard’s freshman class altered so drastically in a single year, what might our campus look like next year? Or five, 10, or 50 years from now?

What was once a pessimistic nightmare for Black students is now becoming a potential reality.

Immediately after the Supreme Court decision, University leadership and former president Claudine Gay emphasized that Harvard “will determine how to preserve … our essential values” and we at this school will “move forward together.” Black students were promised that our identities would continue to be protected and represented on Harvard’s campus.

That promise has now been broken.

Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra claimed that the admissions team expanded recruitment travel programs and outreach to schools and community organizations last fall. In addition, the administration increased their outreach to rural communities in the South and Midwest.

Harvard seems to be moving two steps forward and three steps back. Beyond delaying the release of its admissions data, Harvard also changed how it calculates the data in the first place. Rather than reporting demographic information as a fraction of the whole class, as Harvard has traditionally done, they instead reported numbers computed as a proportion of students who chose to disclose their demographic information.

In addition, the public has no data on the percentage of white students who enrolled at Harvard. While we can crunch some numbers in an attempt to approximate the figure, it would still be wrought with ambiguity; the number calculated would presumably not include students who identify both as white and as part of another identity group.

This opaqueness further leads to distrust between Black students and the Harvard administration. It raises countless questions about the data — the new methodology, the reason for the delay — that will probably remain unanswered.

I can’t help but ask: Harvard, how can you say you want the best for your students yet continue to keep us in the dark? How can you say you are working tirelessly to break down barriers to a Harvard education when you have historically — and continue to be — an active hindrance to Black students on your campus? Is this what you call a diverse and inclusive education?

Despite many broken promises and perpetual disappointment, I see a way forward — a way for Harvard to turn their go-to buzzwords of diversity, representation, and inclusion into a reality.

This institution will have to be attentive, transparent, and willing to face backlash. If the administration truly believes in protecting and uplifting minority groups on this campus, it must do away with petty politics. Harvard’s own vanity cannot get in the way of making amends with its most vulnerable students.

Harvard, I call on you to be explicit. Lay out your plans to increase diversity in light of these new demographics. And most importantly, listen to the voices of concern within your student body. There is still an opportunity to rectify the gaps in transparency and provide us with answers.

Talk to us. We deserve this much.

Dalevyon L.J. Knight ’27, a Crimson Editorial editor, lives in Adams House