Panel advocates for Black student enrollment

The Xi Beta chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority (AKA) and the Black House hosted a panel, followed by a letter writing event to middle schools across the country, to advocate for Black student enrollment this Tuesday. The event, titled “Dear Future Cardinal: Advocating for Black Student Enrollment,” highlighted the 49.4% decrease in Black enrollment at Stanford from the 2024-25 admission year following the Supreme Court’s ruling against affirmative action. 

The event included a panel featuring Leslie Luqueño, a fifth year Ph.D. candidate in the Graduate School of Education, and Monica Perkins, associate director of admission for diversity outreach and external relations. AKA member Alaija Jones ’27 moderated the panel.

The current moment in college admissions is not “unprecedented,” Luqueño said. She pointed to historical pushes to end affirmative action like Proposition 209, enacted in 1996, which prohibited affirmative action in local and state government agencies.

Following the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) decision to overturn affirmative action in 2023, changes to admissions were immediate. At Stanford, admissions officers had to reframe the way they read applications, Perkins said. “[It’s] not just about grades, standardized exam scores, letters of rec — you don’t walk through life just raceless — we carry that with us.” 

University spokesperson Dee Mostofi said that Stanford “has an obligation to comply with the Supreme Court’s decision” after their amicus brief in 2023 opposing the decision in SFFA v. Harvard/UNC in which UNC’s admission process taking race into consideration was found to be violating the 14th Amendment. This brief did not change the SCOTUS decision.

Mostofi said the University immediately took action following the decision “to ensure legal compliance in our admission processes” while remaining committed to non-discrimination. 

Luqueño emphasized that diverse campuses are created from racially-conscious policies. Without them, she worries that current systems will continue to perpetuate discrimination against Black students and discourage them from higher education. 

Faculty play a pivotal role, Luqueño added, underscoring that their impact on students extends beyond the walls of campuses and often returns to communities back home.

Perkins shared that one of her goals for Stanford admissions is “to institutionalize outreach” by focusing on areas with a high percentage of Black students. She envisions a “relationship-driven perspective” between admissions officers and school counselors, in which they work with students often and students trust them to “break down hidden curriculum on how to prepare for a higher institution,” like the best classes to take. 

Perkins said that in a system not built with Black students in mind, higher education can be “next to impossible” unless children and their support systems are taught how to advocate for themselves, she said. Perkins believes this information should be accessible to all.

Mostofi described the changes in demographics post-affirmative action as “painful to see” and leaving many students “deeply affected.”

While the University “continues to value diversity,” it needs “to work within the law” as it responds, Mostofi said. One example of their commitment to valuing diversity was providing a variety of outreach efforts in person, such as partnering with the STARS College Network. “We welcome the efforts of our students and alumni to aid in recruitment efforts,” Mostofi said.

In response to a question about how the admissions office has been addressing the specific challenges Black students face, Perkins said that Black students’ experiences are “not a monolith,” as each individual views college and their access to higher education in a unique way. 

Perkins said she’d heard young Black students say elite institutions “don’t take people like me,” and speculated that these students may have internalized this idea either from their community, not seeing themselves reflected in higher education environments or the perceived academic rigor. 

Perkins mentioned intellectual vitality, a component unique to Stanford, as a place to demonstrate strengths not represented through lack of “traditional” extracurriculars. According to Perkins, applications are reviewed in the context of community and family, rather than directly against their classmates.

After the panel, attendees wrote letters to middle schools across the country with a large percentage of Black students to encourage them to pursue higher education.

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