A Post-affirmative Action BU

The negative implications of the overturning of affirmative action

by Samantha Gamero

Photo by Sarah Cruz

After being on campus for over a month, I have become hyper-aware of how my cohort looks, or rather who is missing. 

In a recent article published by BU Today, the university’s daily newspaper, a shocking statistic was revealed: the Black student population for the class of 2028 dropped from 9% to 3%. While percentages for other races and ethnicities also fluctuated, the white demographic remained flat at 29%. As quoted by the newspaper, BU president Melissa L. Gilliam said addressing this drop in enrollment is a “priority” for the university. But what does this all really mean?

It’s important to note that these numbers are not exclusive to the BU community. Data collected by Inside Higher Ed shows that in almost every college institution, either one or more ethnic minority groups experienced some sort of decrease in student enrollment.

However, the percentage drops ranged from 1% to 10%. Inside Higher Ed explains that the lack of a concrete pattern is due to the differences in starting points between colleges and universities. Even before the ruling, the range of minority students in smaller liberal arts colleges was anywhere between 3% to 5%. Larger universities rarely if ever surpassed more than 20%. The initial percentages have historically been substantially low. For a country rapidly becoming more diverse, the representation in higher education is not correlative. 

Affirmative action was a sliver of an effort to allow minority groups access to college. It is a fact that the American education system is designed to keep us out of elite academia.

The disparities of education are far too complex to oversimplify, something many anti-affirmative action believers resort to when arguing the “unfairness” of the policy. Not only does this perpetuate white privilege but it dismisses the realities of the struggles communities of color endure to even consider college as a legitimate option. How is affirmative action unethical when black and brown elementary schools are facing district-wide closures? How is affirmative action unethical but private schools and education vouchers aren’t? 

Affirmative action does not address the centuries of systemic racism ingrained in our education system, but declaring it unconstitutional shows where the public stands in terms of remedying our broken systems. 

You can't say you support the idea of racial equality if you don't support efforts of implementation.