On Thursday, June 29, 2023, The Supreme Court ruled to end university admissions offices’ ability to take an applicant’s race into consideration when granting acceptance to the institution. With one of Stevens’ core institutional values and a strategic goal being diversity, equity, and inclusion, there have been changes made to the application process for the incoming class to uphold these values while adapting to the ruling.
A day after the ruling, President Nariman Farvardin concluded his issued statement, “to renew our commitment to recruit, nurture and support a diverse population of students who will go on to become the technological leaders, entrepreneurs and innovators of the future and to strengthen our inclusive and welcoming workplace for current and future colleagues.” Along with Stevens, many institutions issued statements about the topic as well. Questions began to surface on how colleges and universities will go about the next application process.
Previously, high school seniors would most likely use CommonApp or other websites to submit their applications. The CommonApp includes a section where the student inputs their demographic information, including race and ethnicity. Colleges like Stevens that participated in the Affirmative Action Plan would take an applicant’s personal essay, supplemental writings, extracurricular activities, and race into consideration. However, with the Supreme Court ruling, those criteria have changed.
April Chang, the Dean of Undergraduate Admissions, reported two major changes to the application process for students applying for the Fall 2024 entry term to adjust and ensure that Stevens continues to progress their goals and values by recruiting and attracting a diverse population of students.
Chang comments on how the first change includes new essay prompts asking for students to expand on how personal or lived experiences can contribute to their potential success at Stevens. She then includes that Stevens may consider an applicant’s discussion of race if the applicant chooses to share information in an essay in which their identity is linked to their life story, quality of their character, or unique ability to contribute to the university community.
Many institutions like Stevens including Harvard will be taking “an applicant’s discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration, or otherwise.” It is entirely up to the student if they choose to disclose this information.
The second change includes implementing Early Action as an option for students. This option will join the previous options of Early Decision I, Early Decision II, and Regular Decision.
Following President Farvardin’s statement on June 29, 2023, to attract and retain a community from diverse backgrounds. Chang explains that Stevens will not exclusively use the college application and essay prompts to maintain and expand on this goal. Stevens will be expanding recruitment efforts to include diverse geographic regions, partnering with community-based organizations, collaborating with various stakeholders to expand our pre-college programs, and lowering barriers to admissions through test-optional application reviews.
Chang expresses that “we are excited for the upcoming admissions cycle and look forward to welcoming talented students from diverse backgrounds and cultures to our campus.”
