On June 29, 2023 the US Supreme Court ruled that college programs can no longer consider race as a factor in the admissions process.

DEAN'S NOTE

Affirming Our Values in a Post-Affirmative Action Era

On continuing to pursue equitable admissions practices.

This week the Supreme Court issued a decision ruling against the consideration of race in higher education admissions. While this decision had been long expected, it is still disappointing, a setback for the work of shaping more equitable admissions processes. The ruling poses a challenge to the promotion of diversity within higher education and runs counter to a vision of work founded on creating pathways for underserved communities. President Brown, in his note to the community, reaffirms Boston University’s values, and sets the stage for the University’s further work in reviewing our admissions practices. 

As this evolves, I wanted to reflect on this moment from the perspective of public health. As a School we remain committed to shaping a diverse, inclusive community that is representative of the populations we serve. As with past Court decisions, while the legality around key issues may change, often with implications for public health, the core principles which underlie our work will continue to be as they have always been. Our commitment to diversity and inclusion remains a central value which serves as an organizing principle for all we do. 

This commitment is also core to the broader work of public health. I have frequently written about how, for public health to be most effective, it needs to be informed by a diverse range of identities and perspectives. It is through this diversity that we are better able to engage with populations that have been overlooked, whose health suffers as a consequence of being excluded from the resources that support health, including access to education. Our goal as a school is to always find ways of being more welcoming, more accessible to students from a range of backgrounds, towards becoming the best versions of ourselves as a school community and as a field.

The Court’s decision is the latest development in a longstanding debate about how to best build inclusive campuses in the US. For a long time—indeed, for much of our history—certain groups were excluded from key institutions in this country. This could take the form of official policy or de facto exclusion. Even after changes to our laws made this illegal, generations of exclusion left their mark, with many groups far from fully represented. Today, forces like racism and economic disadvantage continue to prevent many from accessing the resources that support academic development from an early age, limiting opportunities for pursuing higher education later. The animating principle behind considering race in college admissions was to counterbalance this injustice, acknowledging the generations of unfairness and underrepresentation that led to disadvantage in the present. 

While the laws about race and university admissions may change, the realities of this history remain. It seems important therefore that, rather than seeing this as a moment to retreat, we see it as a moment to reinvigorate and reimagine how we engage with our pursuit of a diverse, inclusive academic community. While working in accordance with the law, we have a chance to use this moment to be productive, imaginative, and innovative in making sure our school remains a welcoming place, supported by an admissions process that reflects our values. This means continuing to work towards a process that considers the full range of applicants’ experience, evaluating the whole person. It also means continuing to offer financial aid options to help ensure that lack of resources is not a barrier to entry for applicants. 

While the Court’s decision poses challenges, we have faced challenges before. They are an opportunity to be more thoughtful, more creative, more persistent in our pursuit of a better world. As an academic institution, we will continue to support students from a range of diverse backgrounds, to welcome them into our community, in keeping with our fundamental values. As a public health community, we will continue to address the history that has led to inequities in education, opportunity, and health. 

In our admissions materials, we pose a question to students who are thinking about applying to our program: What if you could change the world for a living? Each year, we receive applications from students who are eager to do just that. They come from many backgrounds, with many interests, each with something unique to add to the life of our school. Their willingness to engage in the work of public health is a source of continual inspiration and hope. We have a responsibility to remain an institution that is worthy of their interest in us. I look forward to working with the community to ensure we continue to do so, now and in the years to come. 

Warm regards,

Sandro

Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH
Dean and Robert A. Knox Professor
Boston University School of Public Health

Acknowledgement: I am grateful to Eric DelGizzo for his contributions to this Dean’s Note.

Previous Dean’s Notes are archived at: http://www.bu.edu/sph/tag/deans-note/