Elms College President Dr. Harry Dumay was featured in an article in Business West on how area colleges plan to continue emphasizing diversity in enrollment despite the Supreme Court’s recent decision that some are calling an end to Affirmative Action in college admissions.
The article included President Dumay and other Western Massachusetts college leaders saying that despite the court ruling striking down race-based admission criteria, admission practices will not change.
Dumay told Business West, “We do not use race-conscious policies in admissions,” he explained. “The way we go about having a diverse student body — and we are very satisfied that our student body has been increasingly diverse — is by projecting the idea that we are a campus where everyone is accepted, everyone is embraced, and everyone belongs… We attract those students by creating an atmosphere on campus where every student feels this is the place where they’re valued and where they belong, so all students can benefit from the additional educational advantages of being in a diverse campus environment.”
Dumay said that when the count ruling was announced, Elms consulted with legal counsel about whether existing admission practices needed to change to fall in line with the ruling. The recommendation from counsel was that changes were not needed.
“We will continue to have a campus where all people, faculty, students, and staff feel that they belong, and feel the diversity that they bring is embraced,” President Dumay said.
Original Article:
https://businesswest.com/blog/even-without-race-based-admissions-colleges-aim-to-cultivate-diversity