Harvard Students Express Concern After Drop in Black Enrollment

Some Harvard students said they were disappointed by the racial composition of the Class of 2028 after Harvard College reported a drop in Black enrollment on Wednesday.

The current freshmen are the first group to be admitted to the College after the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down affirmative action decision last summer, a ruling that many predicted would lead to dramatic declines in Black enrollment.

In the Class of 2028, 8 percent of applicants chose not to disclose their race or ethnicity – a notable jump from 4 percent of students in the Class of 2027. This year, the data released by the College reflects the percentage of students who chose to disclose their racial or ethnic identity.

The Coalition for a Diverse Harvard, a group of Harvard students and alumni advocating for diversity in higher education, wrote in a statement that the group was “deeply distressed” by the data.

“Harvard must address why it fell short, especially compared to other colleges,” the group wrote.

Harvard, however, is not the only university to report a drop of Black students in the Class of 2028.

MIT’s data revealed sharp declines in Black and Latino enrollment. The percentage of Black students dropped from 15 percent in the Class of 2027 to 5 percent in the Class of 2028. The percentage of Hispanic and Latino students fell to 11 percent from 16 percent. The percentage of white students was 37 percent, while the percentage of Asian American students jumped from 40 percent to 47 percent.

Similarly, at Amherst College in Massachusetts, the percentage of Black students fell dramatically from 11 percent to 3 percent while the percentage of white and Asian American students increased.

The Coalition for a Diverse Harvard also called on the University to reinstate test-optional admissions policies and end preferences for legacy applicants.

The Harvard-Radcliffe Asian American Association wrote in a statement Wednesday that the group “rejects the notion that affirmative action discriminates against Asian Americans.”

“We believe that equity in admissions is crucial for the removal of barriers for marginalized groups,” the group wrote.

David E. Lewis ’24-25, a student lead of the Affirmative Action Coalition at Harvard, said he was concerned that the increase in students who declined to report their race “could be somewhat inflating the numbers.”

The individual change in percentages varied by less than 5 points within racial groups, so on many metrics, the Class of 2028 looks similar to the classes before it. While many students did not notice a change in the racial makeup of the freshman class, members of racial minority groups said they noticed a shift in the student body.

“I haven’t really noticed a difference,” Caroline M. Fouts ’28 said. “I think I just see everybody around and try to just be friends with everybody and meet new people.”

Harvard President Alan M. Garber '76 poses for a photo with students in the Class of 2028 during move-in. By J. Sellers Hill

Lewis said he felt that the actual presence of Black freshmen on campus had declined.

“We have GroupMe chats every year for Black freshmen and the current GroupMe chat for this particular crop of freshmen is less than half of what it usually is,” Lewis added.

Lewis urged Harvard to further its commitment to diversity. He said that Harvard’s actions prior to the Supreme Court decision to end affirmative action were still not enough to rectify the University’s history of “participating in slavery and exploiting Black labor and Black people for hundreds of years.”

The percentage of Native American students in the Class of 2028 dropped to 1 percent. Lena M. Tinker ’25, president of Natives at Harvard, said that though the percentage declines “seem small,” it played an “outsized impact in reversing recent progress.”

Tinker said her main concern for institutions that have historically excluded minorities is whether “students of diverse backgrounds feel comfortable applying to the school.”

“I absolutely think it has an impact on people’s decision to apply,” she said.

Many other students said they felt surprise or dissatisfaction towards the data.

Jurni A. DeLoach ’27 wrote in an email that though the racial compositions did not surprise her, she was disappointed by the figures.

“Though I concede that this is a relatively minor decrease, that does not negate the fact that this is indicative of a worrying downward trend in Black enrollment at elite universities,” DeLoach wrote.

Agustin J. Leon-Saenz ’25, the vice president of Fuerza Latina, said he was satisfied with the increased representation of Latino students, but found it “disheartening” that the increase did not translate to other minority groups.

The proportion of international students in the Class of 2028 rose from 15.2 percent last year to 16 percent.

The College reported that the proportion of students identifying as Asian American remained the same from the previous year.

Yukong Zhao, president of Asian American Coalition for Education — an anti-affirmative action non-profit, said that affirmative action was only a “bandage.”

Zhao said that he believes the drop in Black enrollment at MIT and Harvard was not caused by the Supreme Court ruling but instead reflects “failing K-12 education in too many Black and Hispanic communities.”

In a Wednesday email to Harvard affiliates announcing the admissions data, Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra wrote that it could take several admissions cycles to determine the full impact of the Supreme Court’s decision on class composition.

“As the University’s leadership asserted when the Court’s decision was announced, the change in law did not change our fundamental commitments,” Hoekstra wrote.

Correction: September 13, 2024

A previous version of this article incorrerctly identified Lena Tinker as president of Native Americans at Harvard. In fact, Tinker is president of Natives at Harvard.

—Staff writer Michelle N. Amponsah can be reached at michelle.amponsah@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @mnamponsah.

—Staff writer Samantha D. Wu can be reached at samantha.wu@thecrimson.com.

—Staff writer Katie B. Tian can be reached at katie.tian@thecrimson.com.