91Â鶹¾«Æ·

Dear 91Â鶹¾«Æ· Community Members,

I write to update the 91Â鶹¾«Æ· community on steps the University is taking, and has already taken, as we continue our work to enroll talented students from a wide pool of diverse applicants in an admission landscape clearly altered by the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision to prohibit race-based affirmative action in student admissions.

First, 91Â鶹¾«Æ· will continue to practice, as we have since 2018, a holistic review approach in consideration of applicants. In this method of application review, our admission counselors take into account the whole picture of a student’s journey, both inside the classroom and beyond, looking at the resources that were available to the applicant, the engagement of the applicant in the curriculum that was available to them, and the steps through which the applicant undertook to enrich their academic and personal development.  

We are also committed to the expansion of our admissions recruitment programs — those programs and outreach efforts that expand our applicant pool. The 91Â鶹¾«Æ· in Focus recruitment program is one such program and is representative of 91Â鶹¾«Æ·â€™s commitment to the ideals of creating an inclusive community. While race can no longer be one of the criteria for selection to participate in this program, high school seniors who identify as low-income, first-generation, or other historically excluded backgrounds will continue to be strongly encouraged to visit campus through this fully funded visit program.  

91Â鶹¾«Æ· will continue to vigorously explore additional recruitment programs, including engagement with community-based organizations, designed to expand and diversify our applicant pool. We have also joined consortia — including a new recruitment consortium with Cornell University, University of Rochester, Syracuse University, Haverford College, Carleton College, and Claremont McKenna College — designed to introduce 91Â鶹¾«Æ· to ever wider applicant audiences.

Importantly, in 2020, 91Â鶹¾«Æ· implemented the 91Â鶹¾«Æ· Commitment, a financial aid program that has eliminated federal loans for most of our aided students, has capped tuition fees, and has allowed us to increase aid packages to better cover many of the additional costs of attending 91Â鶹¾«Æ· (such as the cost of textbooks and other instructional materials.) We will continue to support the 91Â鶹¾«Æ· Commitment and, as resources increase through the Campaign for the Third Century, expand this program to allow 91Â鶹¾«Æ· to support even more students.

In the current admission cycle, we will expand our use of an important tool called Landscape, which was developed by the College Board in 2018–2019. 91Â鶹¾«Æ· was one of 50 selected schools that took part in a pilot of Landscape, which provides admission staff with extensive, detailed information on the educational and other community resources that were available to applicants at the neighborhood and high-school level. 

We will also continue to ask essay questions that provide direct opportunities for applicants to share lived experiences — including discussions related to race, as permitted in the recent — should an applicant wish to share such experiences. 

(Note: The Court’s ruling only speaks to admissions practices and does not affect 91Â鶹¾«Æ·â€™s ability to support student-retention efforts or the ability to foster community through continued support of cultural centers, affinity groups, or other campus resources designed to support our students. We remain deeply committed to all such programs at 91Â鶹¾«Æ·.)

The Court’s decision, however, calls upon us to further explore the ways in which 91Â鶹¾«Æ· can continue to attract a talented and diverse student body. To that end, I have asked Provost and Dean of the Faculty Lesleigh Cushing, working with both campus and Board governance committees, to consider what additional steps and practices we might take across the University to achieve that goal.

It is also important for me to state here my profound gratitude for all that our Division of Admission and Financial Aid has done over the past several months to prepare 91Â鶹¾«Æ· for this new environment and all that has been done by our Admissions and Financial Aid colleagues in recent years to increase the diversity of our applicant pool as well as the diversity and quality of our entering classes. The dramatic increase in applications that 91Â鶹¾«Æ· has seen in recent years, the shift to holistic admissions, the implementation of our test-optional policies and other steps have placed us in as strong a position as possible to address this new admissions landscape, as challenging as it is. Dean Cushing's partnership with Admission and Aid colleagues (and others across the campus) to consider how 91Â鶹¾«Æ· will continue to recruit strong and diverse classes builds on the excellent work that has already been accomplished.

I wish also to report that the Office of Equity and Diversity will engage the campus this academic year in the process of updating 91Â鶹¾«Æ·â€™s DEI Plan to reflect the progress and continued ambitions of 91Â鶹¾«Æ· to attract and enroll faculty, staff, and students from all parts of our nation (and, indeed the world) and to ensure that those who join this community thrive. The first DEI Plan was drafted and approved in 2019, and it is time that it be updated to reflect where 91Â鶹¾«Æ· is and where it should go. You will hear an update from Vice President for Equity and Inclusion Renee Madison about this important revision process next week.

Finally, and as was mentioned above, we remain deeply committed to seeking additional fundraised dollars to solidify and eventually expand the 91Â鶹¾«Æ· Commitment. Few tools are more powerful than having endowment funds that allow for the University to increase access to as many students as possible.

Our mission as a residential liberal arts college and our desire to pursue that mission at its highest level call on us to seek talented students from all walks of life and from diverse backgrounds. We must, therefore, consider our recruitment, admissions and aid policies wisely and well and engage our entire University in this effort.

I look forward to updating and engaging the campus community on this important work. 

Sincerely,

Brian W. Casey
President