As a coalition of affinity groups representing Black, Latine, and Asian students at WashU, we are deeply disappointed by the substantial decline in students of color enrolling at WashU. In the first admissions cycle without affirmative action, the University witnessed a 33% decline in enrollment of Black students, an 8% decrease in enrollment of Latine students, and a 4% decrease in enrollment of Asian students. In a single year, enrollment of students of color from the incoming class went from 53% to 47%. In the coming months, we look forward to deepening our collaboration with the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, and are eager that our joint efforts will retain a student body that is majority students of color. 

The decline in students of color is a direct result of last year’s Supreme Court decision, Student for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which prohibits affirmative action on the basis of race in higher education. In the dissenting opinion, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson noted that “deeming race irrelevant in law does not make it so in life.” As student leaders of color, we understand this assertion deeply. Affirmative action is necessary to account for systemic racism that all students of color have faced and will continue to face at institutions like WashU. 

In the coming months, the Association of Black Students (ABS), Association of Latin American Students (ALAS), and Asian Multicultural Council (AMC) are looking forward to having members of our executive boards work directly with the Office of Undergraduate Admissions to reverse the decline in students of color. 

Starting next semester, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions will hire several student interns to propose and support improved strategies to grow the historically marginalized student population. We are eager for this intern model to propose and implement meaningful initiatives such as launching and expanding recruitment and yield initiatives.

As we improve recruitment and yield efforts to increase racial and ethnic diversity, there is a need for data disaggregation to determine what communities these efforts should target. Though enrollment decreases may seem small, broad categories like “Asian” and “Hispanic” hide the full picture. There is no data on the enrollment by race, ethnicity, and nationality for minority Latine students, particularly Afro-Latines, Indigenous Latines, and those with Central American heritage. 

Aggregated data conceals the impact of admissions policies. Consider the 1% decline in Asian students. Across the diaspora, there is significant variation in educational attainment. Vietnamese, Hmong, and Bhutanese Americans are less likely to attain a college degree, whereas Chinese and Indian Americans are more likely to do so. We suspect the decrease in students of backgrounds with lower educational attainment rates was offset by an increase in students of backgrounds with higher educational attainment rates. Only with disaggregated data can WashU identify what populations face the greatest barriers to educational attainment.

WashU students have been calling for data disaggregation as early as 2018, with a dedicated campaign from a coalition of affinity groups in 2020. In the coming months, we will be renewing these efforts for data disaggregation, particularly as the Office of the University Registrar’s Student Sunrise project, leading the shift from WebSTAC to Workday, opens a unique avenue to revisit WashU’s data collection practices. 

Admissions equity is predicated on transparency and open communication. To fulfill its principles, WashU ought to disaggregate data for Black, Latine, and Asian students, properly identify students from Southwest Asia and North Africa, and appropriately represent the backgrounds of international students. 

Moving forward, our coalition of organizations will work towards education and advocacy to address the admissions inequity at WashU and strengthen collaborations with the Office of Undergraduate Admissions to retain a majority student of color student body. 

Still, racial and ethnic equity cannot stop at admissions. We believe it is imperative to focus on every dimension of student experience, from admissions to graduation. Our coalition remains committed to fostering communities where students of color can celebrate their differences and similarities. In the coming months, we will expand our coalition efforts to advocate for continuous support for the people who constitute our campus communities.  

Signed, The Executive Boards of

Association of Black Students 

Association of Latin American Students 

Asian Multicultural Council