Message to the Community: SFFA vs. Harvard/UNC Decision on College Admissions
A Message from President Harring to the Muhlenberg CommunityBy: Kathleen Harring Friday, June 30, 2023 10:00 AM
Dear Muhlenberg Community:
On Thursday, June 29, the Supreme Court issued its ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina, holding that Harvard’s and UNC’s admissions programs violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Their ruling overturns decades of precedent, most recently reaffirmed in 2016. Judging by the evidence offered by states that already have bans on race-conscious admissions, this will create more barriers to higher education among individuals who face racial and ethnic discrimination and make it more difficult to build the diverse community of students we want to attract and support. For more information, you can read the American Council on Education’s overview of the case, as well as several amicus briefs, filed by ACE and a range of higher education associations, detailing the case’s likely impact on Black and brown students.
Currently we are undertaking a careful review of the Supreme Court’s ruling, evaluating Muhlenberg policies and practices in light of it, and planning to update the community before the start of the fall semester. While Muhlenberg College practices holistic review in admissions decisions and does not consider race as a standalone factor, we believe strongly that diversity is essential to learning and to our success as a pluralistic community. Our mission enjoins us to provide an intellectually rigorous education within the context of an inclusive and diverse campus.
To that end, we strive to recruit the most highly qualified students possible, from all backgrounds, and to prepare them for lives of meaning, consequence and leadership. Our mission and values also compel us to create learning communities that look like America — diverse, dynamic and pluralistic — and prepare our students to lead and thrive professionally, personally and civically in an ever-more diverse nation and world. Indeed, this holistic preparation is the dividend of a liberal arts education.
Members of our community may have questions or be looking for resources in response to this ruling. Students in need of support pertaining to multicultural life at Muhlenberg should contact Associate Dean of Students and Director of Student Diversity Initiatives Robin Riley-Casey in the Office of Multicultural Life. For more information about the decision and its potential impact on Muhlenberg College, please contact Chief Diversity Officer S. Brooke Vick ([email protected]).
Maintaining a diverse, equitable, inclusive College community is a responsibility each of us shares. Thank you for all you do to make this a reality.
Sincerely,
Kathleen E. Harring, Ph.D
President
