Feb 17, 2025 Story by: Editor
Stanford University’s first freshman class admitted after the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling against race-conscious admissions has seen a drop in Black and Latino student enrollment, as per data released in January.
Compared to the class of 2027, the latest figures show a 49.4% decline in Black student enrollment and a 14.4% drop in Latino student enrollment among first-time, first-year students. In contrast, Asian and white student enrollment saw an increase of 14.5% and 10%, respectively.
Amid heightened national interest following the Supreme Court’s decision, Stanford published preliminary enrollment data for the first time in October. The university reaffirmed its commitment to fostering a diverse student body “through legally permissible means.”
Provost Jenny Martinez emphasized in a statement to the Stanford Report that the data highlights the “importance of continuing to pursue diversity broadly defined through the means accessible to us.” She acknowledged that the decline in representation was “difficult to observe.”
“We are committed to working aggressively to continue seeking diversity through legal means, including through the further expansion of our outreach to high-achieving students from underserved populations, and to fostering community for our students here on campus,” Martinez stated.
Jose Berdeja ’27, a member of Derechos—Stanford’s Latino pre-law society—and an alumnus of the university’s first-generation, low-income (FLI) summer bridge programs, expressed concern that the reduced enrollment of minority students could weaken campus community spaces and limit diverse perspectives.
“When it comes to movements and advocacy, there’s always power in numbers,” Berdeja told The Daily. “If we don’t have that quantity of people, it dilutes movements.”
He also raised concerns about potential funding cuts to initiatives like the FLI summer bridge programs, which have recently been consolidated into a single program. He credited these programs with giving him “a community to look forward to seeing.”
“It was hard to hear that Stanford would [combine the programs],” Berdeja said. “It felt like we were, again, swept under the rug, like we typically are. There are benefits to these programs, and they still change a lot of students’ experiences.”
Leslie Luqueño, a fifth-year PhD student and instructor of the course CSRE 15: Race and College Admissions, believes Stanford “abandoned race-conscious admissions without some kind of fight back.”
“I do really think [Stanford] had the potential to fight back and actually make a stance that this would inhibit their ability to admit Black and Latinx students,” Luqueño said of the ban. “It was disappointing for me to hear that Stanford was just going to follow suit. Historically, we also know that ‘colorblind’ admissions policies don’t work.”
Luqueño suggested that Stanford could enhance its recruitment efforts by forming partnerships with high schools that serve “racially diverse populations” and creating specialized programs to support prospective students from underrepresented backgrounds.
In the university’s preliminary report, Richard Shaw, dean of undergraduate admission and financial aid, reaffirmed Stanford’s dedication to increasing access: “We will work harder than ever in communities across the country to identify competitive students and make them aware of the extraordinary opportunities available to them at Stanford.”
Luqueño also urged the Stanford community to recognize and support the contributions of minority students on campus. “Valuing these perspectives,” she stated, “can not only help ourselves in terms of being able to better our families and bring more education to our communities, but also bring diverse perspectives into a college campus where everybody can learn.”
Both Luqueño and Berdeja believe that Stanford must take concrete steps to uphold diversity and inclusion.
“Stanford should not just say that they’re ‘for diversity’ but actually implement change that will promote that idea,” Berdeja said. “That’s all that really matters.” Source: The Stanford Daily
