The rejection of affirmative action in college admissions opens the doors to HBCU enrollment increase<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By Sydney Ross<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NABJ Monitor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) across the country are expecting an influx in applications following the U.S. Supreme Court\u2019s decision to reject affirmative action in the college admissions process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Ending in a 6-3 ruling, the landmark decision is a result of a lawsuit against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill deeming race-conscious admissions practices in higher education unconstitutional. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The ruling was no surprise to many scholars and educators, including Eddy Carder, Ph.D., professor of constitutional law and philosophy at Prairie View A&M, who said he is more disappointed than surprised because the decision takes away from the overall purpose of affirmative action. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAffirmative action aimed at increasing representation of minorities in areas of academics and employment,\u201d Carder said. \u201cThis decision misconstrues that foundational premise behind the history of affirmative action.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Syb Brown, Ph.D., the NABJ academic representative and professor at Belmont University, agreed and advised people to begin strategizing for when the ruling goes into effect in January. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019ve already seen partial impact in Texas at Texas A&M. One of our fellow NABJ members and professors was offered a watered-down contract,\u201d Brown said, referring to the case of Kathleen McElroy, who this week settled a lawsuit<\/a> with the university after it reduced an offer of a tenure-track position to a one-year contract. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe fallout now has been the loss of a president, a dean, a department and, unfortunately, this is just the beginning,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Institutions across the country are now scrambling to find ways to ensure diversity and inclusive student bodies on their campuses as racial gaps in student demographics are expected to rise at predominantly white institutions. This means some of the most talented students of color may pursue education elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you’re a Black student going into a place like that, there won\u2019t be the support, and it won’t be financial support,\u201d said Walter Kimbrough, former president of Philander Smith College and Dillard University. \u201cThat\u2019s going to be less of an incentive to go there, which is going to drive people to HBCUs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n HBCUs across the country are now working to fill this gap and further develop talents that other institutions turn away. Historically, HBCUs have been known to be underrepresented and underfunded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As more students of color now turn to these institutions, it may pose an issue of resources. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI suspect that many students of color will opt to apply for admission to HBCUs as a practical result of the decision,\u201d Carder said. \u201cThis could have a burdening effect on HBCUs and their resources, such as technology, physical space and faculty-to-student ratios.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not only will the lack of resources be a concern, but HBCU admission might become more tougher. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey\u2019re going to be more competitive for fewer seats,\u201d Kimbrough said. \u201cEverybody can’t go to Howard and Morehouse and A&T. They will not be able to add enough space to handle the demand automatically. So those students will have to go somewhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That \u201csomewhere else\u201d will be smaller HBCUs that make up a large portion of the institutions across the country, according to Kimbrough. He now has hope that institutions like Dillard, Xavier, Fisk and other HBCUs will begin to receive more recognition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEverybody can\u2019t go to the big name-brand institutions,\u201d Kimbrough said. “Maybe they\u2019ll go to a second-level institution that is really strong but doesn\u2019t have the same brand recognition.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Biden-Harris administration has made several proposals to clarify college admissions in response to the Supreme Court\u2019s ruling, according to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, who spoke on Thursday at the National Association of Black Journalists Convention and Career Fair in Birmingham, Alabama. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Cardenos added that the administration has addressed the ruling by hosting a National Summit on Educational Opportunities, ensuring new standards for qualified applicants, increasing transparency in college admissions and releasing reports on strategies for increasing diversity and educational opportunities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe see you, and we need you on campus,\u201d Cardona told convention attendees. \u201cYou make our universities better. We are going to keep fighting to make sure you have a seat at the table.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The rejection of affirmative action in college admissions opens the doors to HBCU enrollment increase By Sydney Ross NABJ Monitor Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) across the country are expecting an influx in applications […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":3067,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,399,239],"tags":[297,33],"class_list":{"0":"post-3052","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-features","8":"category-nabj23","9":"category-race-culture","10":"tag-education","11":"tag-nabj"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabjmonitor.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabjmonitor.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabjmonitor.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabjmonitor.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabjmonitor.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3052"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/nabjmonitor.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3052\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3069,"href":"https:\/\/nabjmonitor.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3052\/revisions\/3069"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabjmonitor.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabjmonitor.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabjmonitor.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabjmonitor.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}