President’s speeches, letters, and articles
Subject: Admissions at Reed after Supreme Court decision
October 24, 2023
Dear Reed Community,
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court released its decision to remove race from consideration in college admission. We shared information about the decision with you then and are following up, as promised, with more details about how the decision may impact Reed’s admission process.
Colleges and universities in the states that previously had banned race from consideration in admissions experienced dramatic and immediate declines in enrollment of students from underrepresented backgrounds. This is why Reed signed on to an amicus brief with other institutions that supported observing race in a holistic admissions process before the Supreme Court made its rulings.
Since then, the college has been considering the impact this decision will have on Reed and the field of higher education. It’s clear that we will remain committed to creating a diverse learning community that values the incredible wealth of talents, strengths, and experiences students from ethnically diverse backgrounds bring to Reed.
As our country has become more diverse, so has Reed. This past year represented our most selective and racially diverse class in the history of the college. Almost 40% of our current domestic first-year population identify as students of color. Our recruitment practices focus on relationship-building and have resulted in a diverse applicant pool.
Past and present recruitment efforts to remove visible and invisible barriers have resulted in more diverse incoming classes. These efforts include our use of inclusive language to describe our community, adoption of an inclusive essay prompt, collaboration with community-based organizations that represent all students, the extension of our test-blind policy, the removal of an application fee, and personal outreach to parents.
A new optional essay question with the prompt, “How might aspects of your identity positively impact the living and learning community at Reed?” provides all students with an opportunity to celebrate who they are and how their lived experiences shape and contribute to the Reed community.
We remain optimistic that our deeply qualitative practices will support our enrollment goals. This ruling serves as a reminder that we must be authentic in our enthusiasm for diverse students on campus and lean into the framework of Community Cultural Wealth, as discussed by Dr. Tara J. Yosso, recognizing our incredible students from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds and all they contribute to our campus community.
Sincerely,
Audrey Bilger
President
Phyllis Esposito
Vice President and Dean for Institutional Diversity
Milyon Trulove
Vice President and Dean of Admission & Financial Aid