Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s historic decision to reject race-conscious college admissions programs, officials at several South Carolina schools said they are reviewing policies and assuring they will follow the new law of the land.
While the court’s ruling June 29 allows officials to consider a student’s perspective on how race has affected their life, universities must review applications based on students’ experiences as individuals, not solely on the basis of race.
The decision comes as public and private colleges across South Carolina tout their commitment to having a racially and ethnically diverse student body.
The Post and Courier asked a sampling of colleges across the state how the ruling might affect them and particularly whether they have considered race as a factor in admissions. The responses varied and were largely conveyed through brief, broadly worded statements.
“Clemson University takes a holistic approach to admissions, following the requirements of the law,” according to a statement released by spokesman Joe Galbraith. “Clemson will abide by applicable court rulings as we continue to encourage all talented students from South Carolina and elsewhere to attend Clemson.”
University officials declined to say whether race has been used in admission decisions, citing a need for its lawyers to review the high court’s ruling first.
On Clemson’s admissions website, the university says that “diversity” is considered when reviewing applications in order to bring in students with a variety of experiences. However, in data filings from the past decade, the university has said that racial and ethnic status are not considered in admissions decisions.
At Clemson, White students make up 77 percent of its 22,566 undergraduate population. About 16 percent of last year’s freshman class were underrepresented minorities, which includes Black, Hispanic and Native American students.
The state’s largest university, the University of South Carolina, said it doesn’t consider race in admissions. President Michael Amiridis released a campus-wide statement affirming the university will comply with the law.
However, he wrote he supports a diverse learning environment and will welcome “qualified students” with a “variety of life experiences.”
USC has put an emphasis on growing its student diversity.
Last year, it admitted its most-diverse freshman class, with 24 percent of the new students being minorities. White students last year made up about 71 percent of total population of 35,000 on the Columbia campus, figures show.
Colleges that have previously reported using race as a factor in admissions, like the College of Charleston, are reevaluating their approach. The college had begun using race as a factor in admissions decisions in 2018 after quietly discontinuing the practice two years earlier, The Post and Courier previously reported. A recent data filing shows that racial and ethnic status are considered for admissions.
Admissions officials on June 30 said the school “uses a holistic review process that can include race as a consideration.”
“The College of Charleston’s Office of Admissions will ensure that its processes comply with the Supreme Court’s decision,” said Jimmie Foster, vice president for enrollment management. “We remain focused on our expansive outreach and inclusive recruitment efforts, with an emphasis on South Carolina, so that we can enroll the most diverse and academically qualified student body possible. Every academically qualified in-state student will continue to be offered admission to the College of Charleston.”
Other colleges which have not used race as a factor said they remain committed to building a diverse environment in other ways.
Francis Marion University President Fred Carter was discouraged by the decision. He said the dream of a college education offers hope and promise to the most-disadvantaged in society.
“The decision will shatter that dream for far too many deserving people,” Carter said. “Sadly, it reads more like a political manifest than a legal opinion.”
Furman University in Greenville said it will continue to look beyond just academic measures to build a diverse student body.
“For years, Furman has taken a comprehensive approach to recruiting and admissions that employs numerous and wide-ranging race-neutral measures to increase diversity of all kinds,” Furman President Elizabeth Davis said in an email to campus.
The University of South Carolina Upstate in Spartanburg said it will comply with the law while also fostering a diverse and fair environment.
“USC Upstate always welcomes qualified students and remains steadfast in its commitment to reflecting the diversity of our city, state, nation and world,” Chancellor Bennie L. Harris said in a statement.
Winthrop University in Rock Hill said that the decision has no impact on its admissions process because race is not used as a criterion.
Prior to the decision, nine states had already banned race-conscious admissions at public universities since the late 1990s, beginning with California, Texas, Washington and Florida and later followed by others, including Georgia. A 2020 study by researchers at the University of Washington and the Brookings Institution examined admissions at 19 public universities in nine such states. The share of underrepresented minority students admitted and attending schools in those states went down following the ban, the study showed.
The South Carolina Legislative Black Caucus expressed similar concerns after the June 29 ruling.
“The ruling by the Supreme Court stands to keep a significant number of minority students in our country from achieving their full potential and realizing the American Dream,” the caucus said in a statement.
Historically Black colleges or universities are also affected by the ruling.
South Carolina State University, a small public HBCU in Orangeburg County, has a student population that is almost 93 percent Black as of last year.
The university president, Alexander Conyers, wrote in a statement that the college “will continue to accept qualified applicants for enrollment regardless of race.”
The president of Claflin University, another small HBCU in Orangeburg, this one private, also reaffirmed that the university will accept “exemplary students of all races and genders,” in a campus-wide statement.
However, President Dwaun Warmack fears the ruling could limit Black students and other underrepresented minorities’ access to higher education. He said that affirmative action made positive strides in higher education, but racial inequality has persisted in these institutions.
“As a historically Black institution, Claflin University understands the importance of diversity in all its forms,“ Warmack said.
When asked whether a potential drop in Black enrollment at South Carolina’s colleges is a concern, Gov. Henry McMaster said he is confident schools will find another way to bridge the gap.
“I think all our schools are very eager to educate all the people of South Carolina, and they will do whatever they can with scholarships and programs that we’ve been working on for many years to try to get all our people to go as far as they want to go into college,” McMaster said.
Lianna Hubbard from Columbia, Jason Cato from Charleston and G.E. Hinson and Chris Day from Florence contributed to this story.
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