Harvard has its highest percentage of accepted Black students to date for its freshman class of 2014, cccording to the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education.
Some selective institutions only accept between 5 and 10 percent of all students who apply. This year, Harvard accepted 2,023 students from an applicant pool of 34,295. Black students make up 11.9 percent of the accepted students. Typically, 70 percent of Harvard’s Black accepted students end up attending the university, which means that there should be around 170 black students in this fall’s entering class.
The journal also reports that at Williams College, a top-rated liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, 14.3 percent of their accepted students are Black.
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This is more good news to add to the pile of recent positive press concerning Black students and higher education. Many have read the story of Kwasi Enin, the student who was accepted to all eight Ivy League schools, and Avery Coffey, who was accepted to five. There’s also Akintunde Ahmad, a Bay Area student who has a 5.0 GPA and a 2100 SAT score, and is also headed for the Ivy League.
Although Dr. Boyce Watkins of Syracuse University celebrates the achievement, warns against letting this be the end all be all:
“While we are tempted to jump up and down in excitement over the school’s decision to accept the fact that blacks are just as bright as whites, we might need to take a moment of pause. Even though the presence of black students is very important to a campus, the reality is that admitting students of color neither requires significant courage nor shows any real sign of meaningful progress when it comes to truly shaping the direction of a university. The holy grail of power in any academic environment is the number of tenured faculty positions, which Harvard continues to keep African Americans from obtaining.”
He makes an excellent point. Although having more Black students will help bring a sense of diversity and change on campus, Black tenured faculty is necessary for true change. Black students should have that support system, as well, in dealing with some of the alienation that is common for many students of color on Ivy League campuses.
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