UNC has taken a serious step back from its commitment to fairness and equal opportunity.
Black student enrollment in this year’s freshman class dropped from 10.5% to 7.8%, Hispanic enrollment dropped from 10.8% to 10.1%, and Native American enrollment dropped from 1.6% to 1.1%.
This is the first class to be admitted since the U.S. Supreme Court last year struck down affirmative action nationwide, because of lawsuits aimed at UNC and Harvard University.
Releasing the numbers to the media, UNC vice provost for enrollment Rachelle Feldman sought to downplay their significance.
“It’s too soon to see trends with just one year of data,” she said in a written statement. “We are committed to following the new law. We are also committed to making sure students in all 100 counties from every population in our growing state feel encouraged to apply, have confidence in our affordability and know this is a place they feel welcome and can succeed.”
WRAL News reported:
“Colleges had long been banned from having racial quotas. But until this year they were allowed to use race as one of the many characteristics considered when determining whether to admit a student….
“The Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that race could no longer be one of the factors considered by colleges. It was a party-line vote, with all the conservative justices voting to strike down affirmative action and all the liberal justices dissenting.”
UNC should evaluate the situation to see if other non-objective factors, or other discretionary criteria, are impacting these numbers.
The enrollment numbers are concerning. We have a moral obligation to see that the people’s university serves all the people.