Summary of Dr. Shaun Harper's recommendations for colleges and universities post affirmative action
- Consistently communicate and demonstrate a commitment to a diverse student body. Communicate throughout the year. Let audiences know when demographics change. Don’t be merely performative
- Develop an institutional strategy to make this happen. What will you do? By when will you do it? How will you know if it is working? Have metrics for accountability. What are the consequences if you do not meet the goals?
- Pursue solutions internally as well and in collaboration with peer institutions
- Read the full SOCTUS opinion. Resist overreach and misinterpretation. This is ONLY about admissions, not all your other DEI initiatives.
- Triangulate legal counsel. Consult your campus counsel as well as outside counsel to assure you have all points of view. Look for legal guidance and toolkits from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the National Association of College Admission Counseling
- Discontinue using standardized entrance exams.
- Drop out of U.S. News and World Report ranking system.
- Invest more money and be strategic about college preparatory partnerships – pipeline programs.
- It is totally legal to do what colleges and universities do the type of recruiting big-time football and basketball coaches do to build their teams. Recruit academic superstars of color. Stop relying on a few feeder schools to broaden the pool to find talent.
- Provide race-conscious professional learning experiences for admissions officers – leaders and front-line workers. Go beyond implicit bias training. Learn all legally permissible admissions policies. Develop a curriculum – not merely a one-time workshop.
- Nearly 80% of all admissions officers are white
- Avoid raceless marketing techniques. Be unapologetically race-favorable marketing materials. Targeted marketing.
- Publically and continuously communicate the impact of the Affirmative Action rulings. Use examples of UC Berkeley and UCLA and how they loss students of color as a result of CA Proposition 209 dismantling Affirmative Action. Put pressure on elected officials.
- Address mindsets that undermine student and faculty adversity. Measure mindsets – campus culture. Be able to quantify when progress is being made. Develop curriculum that will correct and erradicate problematic mindsets.