Middlebury’s incoming classes of 2028 and 2028.5 are the first to be admitted in light of the Supreme Court’s decision to ban the consideration of race in college admissions. The new challenges posed by the elimination of affirmative action were reflected in a sharp decrease in students of color and a smaller drop in first-generation college students among the first year classes, prompting concerns from student leaders of affinity groups on campus.
The classes of 2028 and 2028.5 comprise 26% of students of color according to a recent college press release, a nine percentage point drop from the class of 2027 just last year, which included 35% of students of color, as published on the college’s admissions page. Six percent of the incoming class identifies as Asian American, four percent as Black or African American, 13% as Hispanic and six percent as two or more races, according to preliminary self-reported data from domestic students provided by the Admissions Office.
Data from Middlebury Historical Data
At just four percent, Black students make up the smallest minority within the first year class. The number of Black students in the first year class decreased by over 20% this year, which President of the Black Student Union (BSU) Che Defreitas ’27 said is especially disappointing considering Black students are already poorly represented here; during the 2023–2024 school year there were only 157 on campus, according to the 2023-24 Common Data Set.
Although the number of domestic Hispanic students only decreased by less than one percent this year compared to last year’s data, leaders of Alianza, a Latinx, Hispanic and Caribbean affinity group on campus, expressed a similar concern.
“I feel like any decrease, even if it is minimal and not apparent, is felt by the community. As it is we already are not a big portion of this college to begin with and it’s already difficult to find a sense of belonging at the college,” wrote David Cordon ’26, co-president of Alianza, in an email to The Campus. “That’s a large margin which makes me a little concerned for the future of diversity at Middlebury and for the future of the BIPOC students at our college.”
With a decline in the proportion of students of color to white students, Alianza Co-President Brandon Rodriguez ’25 also worried about continued advocacy for the needs of Latinx students.
“With fewer Latinx students and reduced racial diversity, there may be less representation in student organizations, leadership roles, and decision-making processes. This could lead to decreased advocacy for issues specifically affecting the Latinx community and reduced visibility of their experiences and needs,” Rodriguez wrote.
Data from Middlebury Historical Data
Middlebury’s decline in enrolled students of color corresponds with broader trends across higher-education institutions in the U.S. Studies on previous affirmative action bans have found that they can decrease diversity in higher-educational institutions by as much as 35%, and that Black and Latinx students usually account for the bulk of the decreases.
At Amherst College, Black students make up three percent of the class of 2028, an eight-point decrease from last year’s first-year class, which had 11% Black enrollment. Tufts University also saw a decrease in the number of Black and Latinx students enrolled this year. Other peer institutions of Middlebury such as Bowdoin College witnessed more moderate declines in diversity: The incoming class at Bowdoin is made up of 39% students of color, a decrease of only three percentage points from last year, according to The Bowdoin Orient.
In June 2023, Middlebury announced its commitment to adhere to the law following the Supreme Court’s decision but reaffirmed its commitment to diversity. The college continues to strategize ways to build all kinds of diversity on campus without affirmative action, partnering with the Posse Foundation, which provides full-tuition scholarships to students from diverse backgrounds, and QuestBridge, which provides students from low-income backgrounds a full-ride. Middlebury just announced its partnership with College Track, an organization that works in 12 centers across the U.S., making a 10-year commitment to supporting scholars facing systematic barriers to higher education.
Dean of Admissions Nicole Curvin highlighted these partnerships and other outreach efforts in her address at the first all-faculty meeting of the semester on Friday, Sept. 6 at Middlebury’s Bread Loaf campus.
“Our team is already out in the world. We had a staff member who just returned from India. We have a staff member right now who’s recruiting at Atlanta, Georgia. This is an exciting time to get out there and continue to talk about all that Middlebury does,” Curvin said.
Still, questions remain about the effectiveness of the college’s strategies given the demographics of the incoming class. Defreitas said that Middlebury’s current efforts do not go far enough to remedy the college’s lack of diversity.
“Things like Posse, Questbridge and test-optional help with diversity, but realistically it’s like putting a few drops of water into a juice and expecting it to taste watered down,” Defreitas wrote.
To address the root of diversity, Defreitas believes that Middlebury admissions should stop giving preferential admission to the children or family members of alumni, thereby eliminating legacy admissions.
“Colleges want returning customers if they can collect them,” he wrote. “A cycle develops, allowing this institution to readmit and retain many of these affluent white families’ children, while admitting a handful of Black and other POC students alongside [white students].”
As the admissions office grapples with recruiting a diverse cohort of applicants, Rodriguez and Defreitas both stressed that a commitment to diversity must go beyond the period of recruitment, and must also prioritize the retention of students of color. Defreitas emphasized the importance of supportive community structures, including affinity groups like BSU, when it comes to supporting the mental health of students of color.
“It is vital for our overall mental well-being as simply knowing a space for us exists can provide relief in one way or another,” Defreitas wrote.
Although concerns continue around representation at Middlebury, Rodriguez was optimistic after working at this year’s first year orientation.
“I was surprised that I met a lot of hispanic and black students who joined Middlebury because of many organizations that target their identity’s,” Rodriguez wrote.
Curvin echoed the hope for an inclusive student body, expressing her desire to build on the data from the admitted class of first years and expand Middlebury’s relationships across the country.
“We remain firmly on the path to build an inclusive Middlebury community through our holistic admissions process while staying within the legal requirements. Our work is looking for unique individuals who will thrive at Middlebury — not simply a number, characteristic or a statistic,” Curvin wrote.
Correction 9/14/24: This article has been updated to better reflect the nature of the Posse Foundation and QuestBridge. The graph depicting Middlebury's racial demographics has also been updated to include all demographic categories in the Common Data Set.
Maggie Bryan '25 (she/her) is the Senior Arts and Culture Editor.
Maggie has previously served as Arts and Culture Editor and Staff Writer. She hails from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and is double majoring in French and Environmental Policy. This spring, she will be studying abroad in Paris. During her free time, she can be found running on the TAM or teaching spin classes in the FIC.
