The Healey-Driscoll administration’s Advisory Council for the Advancement of Representation in Education (ACARE) today released its recommendations to reinforce representation in higher education following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 decision on race-based admissions.
Traci Griffith, director of the Racial Justice Program at the ACLU of Massachusetts and a member of the advisory council, released the following statement:
“Diversity has always been necessary to create equitable, accessible, and enriching educational environments for all students. The Supreme Court’s decision to end affirmative action in 2023 did not change the responsibility of colleges and universities to increase educational opportunities for students of color and other historically underrepresented groups. Now, with predictable but alarming indications that the court’s decision is already having a negative impact on the diversity of student populations, that responsibility weighs even more heavily on institutes of higher education in Massachusetts and across the nation. ACARE’s recommendations are timely, thoughtful, and practical; the ACLU of Massachusetts is proud to have played a role in their development, and we are eager to work with the Healey-Driscoll administration to make them a reality.”
Chaired by the secretary of education and commissioner of higher education, ACARE developed and issued a series of recommendations to reinforce representation following the 2023 Supreme Court decision on race-based admissions. To provide pathways to higher education, the report includes plans to address educational inequities earlier in a student’s journey. ACARE makes innovative suggestions for colleges and universities to address admissions disparities among underrepresented groups and analyzes ways to promote persistence and completion. The report also acknowledges the difficulties faced by nontraditional students and suggests policies to account for factors that impede access, representation, and completion.
On June 29, 2023, the Supreme Court issued two rulings — Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and Students for Fair Admissions v. UNC — restricting schools’ ability to fully address systemic racial inequalities that persist in higher education and hindering the ability of a university to select its student body. The court, however, recognized that the values of diversity are “commendable goals” and that schools can consider applicants’ own discussion of how race has affected their lives. Importantly, in the opinion by Chief Justice Roberts, the court emphasized that “nothing in this opinion should be construed as prohibiting universities from considering an applicant's discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration, or otherwise.”
In line with ACARE’s recommendations, universities can and should examine and improve their policies and practices to expand opportunity, including by broadening recruitment efforts to underserved communities, developing robust middle school and high school pipelines, increasing need-based supports, and improving campus climate.
