Engage in higher ed’s conversations about racial equity and inclusion. Delivered on Tuesdays. To read this newsletter as soon as it sends, sign up to receive it in your email inbox.
Subject: Race on Campus: Can colleges attract Latino students with colorblind strategies?
Can a college attract Latino students with colorblind strategies?
If a new Utah state law bans public colleges from various diversity, equity, and inclusion work, how do colleges recruit and retain Latino students? That’s the central tension at Weber State University,
Or subscribe now to read with unlimited access for as low as $10/month.
Don’t have an account? Sign up now.
A free account provides you access to a limited number of free articles each month, plus newsletters, job postings, salary data, and exclusive store discounts.
Can a college attract Latino students with colorblind strategies?
Daniel Garcia for The Chronicle
If a new Utah state law bans public colleges from various diversity, equity, and inclusion work, how do colleges recruit and retain Latino students? That’s the central tension at Weber State University, in Utah, where the Latino population is booming, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. To be compliant with the new state law, Weber State’s president shut down the institution’s existing cultural center. Now, he is tasked with figuring out how to keep recruiting and retaining Latino students with colorblind strategies. Our J. Brian Charles has the story.
In 2024, 86 college campuses made voluntary or preemptive changes to their diversity, equity, and inclusion practices. Meanwhile, 60 percent of institutions that made changes to their policies were compelled to do so because of new state laws. That’s just one of many findings that we’ve noted after tracking the dismantling of DEI efforts in higher education for more than eight months. Read them all.
Enrollment at historically Black colleges and universities is up. The recent surge shows no signs of stopping. HBCUs saw a nearly 30-percent increase in first-year applicants during the 2022-23 admissions cycle, according to new federal data. The growth at HBCUs outpaced other institutions. College applicants over all were up by just 6 percent. Check out the numbers.
We’ve documented actions taken on hundreds of college campuses to alter or eliminate jobs, offices, hiring practices, and programs amid pressure to end identity-conscious recruitment and retention of minority staff and students.
