After affirmative action ruling, Penn State says it remains committed to diversity
Hours after a divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that colleges and universities can no longer directly consider race in admissions, Penn State issued a statement that emphasized it remains committed to diversity.
“In the wake of today’s Supreme Court ruling, Penn State remains resolute that diversity among students, faculty and staff deepens the educational experience Penn State offers and the range of opportunities the university’s students enjoy,” read the university statement. “People with differing perspectives and from different backgrounds — be they racial or ethnic, financial, geographic, or cultural, to name a few — greatly contribute to the academic discourse that is vital to higher education.
“We remain committed to enhancing the diversity of our academic community, and believe higher education provides enormous personal, professional and societal benefits and should be accessible to students from as many different backgrounds as possible.”
At this early point, it’s not known exactly how Penn State’s admissions process might change. President Joe Biden said earlier Thursday afternoon that colleges should not allow this ruling to be “the last word,” but should instead find other ways to diversify. (Biden said schools could instead evaluate “adversity overcome” by candidates, for instance.)
“Today, I’m directing the Department of Education to analyze what practices help build more inclusive and diverse student bodies and what practices hold that back, practices like legacy admissions and other systems that expand privilege instead of opportunity,” Biden said.
“Colleges and universities should continue their commitment to support, retain and graduate diverse students and classes.”
Conservatives largely lauded Thursday’s ruling, while liberals mostly decried it. House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Setfanik, R-NY, tweeted the ruling was, “A major victory for the American Dream and all students,” while Vice President Kamala Harris called it, “a step backward for our nation.”
Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. John Fetterman called the ruling a “cowardly decision” in a statement Thursday afternoon that didn’t hold back.
“Every student in Pennsylvania and across our country benefits from going to school and learning from people from different walks of life,” he wrote. “The extreme conservative Supreme Court majority stuck its head in the sand and said we shouldn’t try to give kids of color a fair shot. It’s despicable.”
Based on Penn State’s fall 2022 figures, the universitywide racial/ethnic breakdown of undergraduates was as follows: White (62.73%), Hispanic or Latino (9.06%), International (8.46%), Asian (7.32%), Black or African American (6.08%), Two more more races (3.58%), Race or ethnicity unknown (2.55%), American Indian or Alaska Native (0.13%) and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander (0.10%).
The Associated Press contributed to this story
