Affirmative action in college admissions was significantly limited by a June 2023 Supreme Court decision. In Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. University of North Carolina, the court ruled that colleges can no longer use race as a deciding factor in admissions. SFFA is a conservative nonprofit that litigates against race-based admissions in universities and colleges, arguing that they are “unfair, unnecessary, and unconstitutional.” SFFA won its cases before the Supreme Court, effectively ending race-based affirmative action throughout the U.S. Still, applicants can discuss how race has shaped their experiences in personal essays.
Programs like Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives and affirmative action were developed to create fair environments and opportunities for historically underrepresented or marginalized groups. In schools, DEI can include mentoring programs for minority and first-generation students, scholarships for underrepresented or low-income students, and counseling related to academic achievement, career planning, and mental health.
Affirmative action is a federal policy that allows race and ethnicity to be considered in job applications, college admissions, and other federally funded programs, like contracting, grants, and scholarships, in order to increase opportunities for historically marginalized groups.
College Board — a U.S. nonprofit organization aimed at helping high school students prepare for college and career paths — researched the demographics of 60 selective (50 percent and under acceptance rate) four-year public and private colleges and universities from 2018 to 2024 regarding applicants in correlation with acceptance, enrollment, and student outcomes after their first year.
College Board’s report revealed that in 2024, 7.7 percent of admitted students from these 60 selective institutions were Black in comparison to 2023, where eight percent were admitted. Additionally, data in their overall underrepresented minority section showed that admitted students dropped from 28.3 percent to 27.6 percent from 2023 to 2024 respectively.
On Jan. 21, 2025 during President Donald Trump’s first day in office, an executive order was issued directing federal agencies to eliminate DEI programs and any related initiatives. The order claimed that such programs are “illegal and immoral” and would promote discrimination and misuse taxpayer funds. The order requires agencies to shut down DEI offices and equity action plans, while also revoking several executive orders enacted in the past that laid the groundwork for DEI initiatives and other DEI- and affirmative action-like processes in federal hiring, contracting, and college admissions.
For students like Giada Jones, a Berkeley High School sophomore who aims to excel in her classes throughout high school and attend college in the future, these changes bring direct consequences and immediate concern regarding educational advancement. “I feel concerned because it seems like support is being taken away even though inequality still exists,” Jones said.
Jones worries that without DEI and affirmative action programs, Black students may have added difficulties in being accepted into certain schools or jobs.
“They (the policy changes) make me feel less confident because the process already feels stressful, and now it feels less fair. I worry about being treated unfairly and not having the same opportunities as others, even if I work just as hard,” Jones explained.
Dasaun Brown, a BHS senior, expressed mixed feelings about the removal of DEI and affirmative action policies. While he is less concerned about college admissions, Brown described feeling discouraged during the job application process and felt that race may have negatively affected his opportunities.
“Recently I’ve been trying to find jobs … I felt like I didn’t get a job because of my race. I was overqualified for a lot of the positions I was applying for, but I never got a response,” Brown said.
Brown felt that removing race from job applications could lead to more neutral assessments, but he believed getting rid of all DEI efforts would ultimately hurt Black communities.
“I feel like it (DEI programs) might give me a second chance to even get my application looked at,” Brown noted, adding, “Opportunity is the main resource Black and Brown communities are missing. The reason why they don’t have jobs or they can’t go to school is because of the lack of resources.”
BHS educators and staff share similar concerns, like Rhonda Jefferson, BHS’s budget officer and staff sponsor for the Black Honors Society. Jefferson described that the changes felt like a step backward in our nation’s development. “It’s sad to me that we are regressing … There are a lot of companies, American citizens, who will not give Black people the equality that they deserve,” Jefferson said.
For the future of Berkeley and the state, Jefferson noted that California’s sanctuary status provides a degree of security from these policy changes. However, she emphasized that this protection is not nationwide and worries for the country as a whole, adding that she’s apprehensive about where the future of this nation will be headed.
Brown said, “I most definitely feel negative against it, because the people that need it, I feel like, have the most against them.” As programs designed to maintain equality gradually disappear from schools, workplaces, and other systems, many Black students are left uncertain about their future and ability to reach their full potential.