Page 14 - BusinessWest August 7, 2023

“While the court may require us to change our methods, it cannot change our mission.”
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KUMBLE SUBBASWAMY
place where they’re valued and where they belong, so all students can benefit from the additional educational advantages of being in a diverse campus environment.”
When the SCOTUS ruling came down, Dumay added, “we sought legal counsel on whether we should be changing our prac- tices, and also whether this would hamper us in achieving our mis- sion of having a diverse student population, and it doesn’t. We will continue to have a campus where all people, faculty, students, and staff feel that they belong, and feel the diversity that they bring is embraced.”
His sentiments were reflected across the region by college and university leaders who felt the court’s ruling was creating barriers to opportunity — affirmative action began in the 1960s as a tool to prevent discrimination at selective institutions, and has been used as an admissions tool ever since — but stressed that their own poli- cies would continue to promote a diverse student body in lawful ways.
“While we have been anticipating and preparing for this out- come for some time, the court’s decision dismantling affirmative action in college admissions marks a historic and challenging moment for all of higher education, including institutions such as ours that are deeply invested in inclusive education,” said Kumble Subbaswamy, outgoing chancellor at UMass Amherst. However, “while the court may require us to change our methods, it cannot change our mission.”
Noting that university leaders will work closely with the UMass Office of General Counsel to ensure the admission process contin- ues to reflect those values while operating within the boundaries of the law, he also cited the campus mission statement, which reads, “we draw from and support diverse experiences and perspectives as an essential strength of this learning community and accept for our- selves and instill in our students an ongoing commitment to create a better, more just world.”
Diversity
To achieve this end, Subbaswamy explained, the admissions process has, for the past decade, employed a holistic approach that considers the entirety of an applicant’s life experiences. “Holistic admissions, which does not use race as a determinative factor, has served us well. Since 2011, the percentage of students of color in the incoming class has grown from 21% to 37%.”
Dumay, like most college presidents in Western Mass., was among more than 100 leaders from higher education, advocacy organizations, and the Massachusetts Legislature who signed a let- ter on June 29, the day of the SCOTUS decision, criticizing it.
“Massachusetts will always be welcoming and inclusive of stu- dents of color and students historically underrepresented in higher education. Today’s Supreme Court decision overturns decades of settled law. In the Commonwealth, our values and our commit- ment to progress and continued representation in education remain unshakable,” it reads. “We will continue to break down barriers to higher education so that all students see themselves represented in both our public and private campus communities. Massachusetts, the home of the first public school and first university, will lead the way in championing access, equity, and inclusion in education.”
Even if the ruling doesn’t change practices at Elms, Dumay told BusinessWest, he is concerned about the broader higher-education sector.
“Studies have demonstrated the value of diversity,” he noted. “Studies have demonstrated that, without some race-conscious policies, elite institutions are not succeeding at recruiting a diverse student body. In the broader higher-education sector in general, one has to be concerned about the Supreme Court decision, but at Elms, we’ll continue to fulfill our mission to make sure that we have a very diverse and inclusive campus.”
American International College President Hubert Benitez released a statement following the ruling that struck a similar bal- ance between concern over the ruling and a conviction that AIC doesn’t need affirmative action to be diverse.
“The Supreme Court’s decision will have minimal impact on AIC, as the college has always operated based on core values that prioritize access, opportunity, and diversity,” he noted. “Given our
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