Middlebury has released the demographic information for the newly enrolled class of 2028 and the soon-to-matriculate class of 2028.5. These cohorts mark the first admissions cycle since the Supreme Court's June 2023 decision prohibiting the consideration of race as a factor in the admissions process. As a result, Middlebury has seen a shift from its recent trend of increasing racial diversity among each year’s incoming class. This year, 26% of the first-year class are students of color, down from 35% for the classes of 2027 and 2027.5, and the lowest percentage in at least seven years.
While diversity is reflected in more places than just statistics, these numbers are disappointing. We acknowledge that the college is bound by the law and the threat of future lawsuits, but that does not require it to abandon its mission to foster a diverse Middlebury student body for incoming classes. We call for the Office of Admissions and the administration to work on building a more diverse applicant pool through not only external programs like Posse and Questbridge but the dedication of significant internal funding and energy to that effort.
In light of the ban on affirmative action, Middlebury must prioritize building an applicant pool with students of diverse backgrounds. As an institution, the college must move with greater urgency to align our self-conception as a globally engaged, globally representative institution and the makeup of our application pool. Like the few elite colleges and universities that have managed to not backtrack on their progress with diversity this year, Middlebury will need to reconsider and strengthen its outreach efforts. Admissions counselors from Middlebury should increase the number of public high schools they visit, as well as schools in low-income areas, in the South, and in highly urban or rural areas.
Partnering with organizations like the Posse Foundation and QuestBridge has proven a successful strategy in recruiting diverse incoming classes and providing scholars with a community once they arrive. However, as members of these groups have pointed out themselves, these cannot be the college’s only strategies to increase diversity. From our knowledge, these programs can be unreasonably demanding, requiring students to go through two vigorous admissions cycles for a shot at an elite education. A high school visit from a Middlebury admissions representative has the potential to give students a more personal and detailed flavor of the college. Admissions representatives could also provide concrete tips for building a competitive application, filling in for the high-quality guidance counselor programs that so many public schools lack.
Some colleges and universities — notably Wesleyan University and Carleton College — have eliminated the favorable boost awarded to legacy applicants. We believe Middlebury should seriously consider following suit. Although keeping legacy admissions is arguably useful for fundraising and building intergenerational communities here, granting advantage to students whose parents studied at the college traps Middlebury in a cycle of admitting the typically white, wealthy students who have historically composed our student body. With affirmative action now missing from our admissions process, eliminating legacy admissions could be a strong strategy to counter the looming disparities to come.
Reducing the reliance on the Early Decision cohort to fill the ranks of incoming classes might also serve as a bulwark against the effects of an affirmative action-free admissions cycle. Students admitted via Early Decision are often white, wealthy, and from locations closer to campus, allowing them an ease of access to the school that other students may not have. Additionally, to apply to a school with the Early Decision option is to commit without knowing the details of a full financial aid package. This immediately rules out students whose commitment to a school is dependent on competing offers of financial aid.
In the immediate wake of the dismantling of affirmative action, it is both important and timely for the school to increase its support — whether through official messaging or through student organizations — for the students of color on campus, for whom the necessary affinity spaces currently exist under the threat of diminishment and marginalization. By the numbers, Middlebury has done a decent job within the past decade of increasing the proportion of students of color and first-generation students in each passing incoming class, but that isn’t enough. Active interest and investment in the successful education and social support of these groups must not cease or falter when they arrive on campus; it is a project that should transcend the processes of application and recruitment, arrival and orientation.
It’s disheartening that affinity groups such as the Black Student Union and Alianza are in fear of declining membership or diminished importance on campus. A diverse student body helps not only students of color to feel more comfortable and accepted, but also white and privileged students, who reap the benefits of different perspectives.
Middlebury claims to prepare students to “listen, communicate and take action in communities with a range of linguistic and cultural backgrounds” — yet that already lofty goal will prove near impossible if current trends prevail and the college becomes an increasingly monolithic and exclusive student body. If a global perspective and diversity in experience is so important to Middlebury’s reputation, why shouldn’t we be working to build first year classes that reinforce that very principle?
