Dive Brief:
- Brown University plans to launch a series of new admission recruitment efforts with the goal of increasing "admitted students from a diverse range of backgrounds," the Ivy League institution said Wednesday.
- The new programs include more funding to match financial aid offers students receive from other colleges and to expand grants for low-income students to visit the Rhode Island campus. They are part of a multiyear initiative as admissions continues to evolve nationwide, according to a message from the provost's office.
- The news comes after Brown reported a sharp drop in racial and socioeconomic diversity among incoming first-year students this fall, its first cohort admitted after the U.S. Supreme Court barred race-conscious admissions last year.
Dive Insight:
In September, Brown became one of the first institutions to publicly share new student demographics following the Supreme Court's decision.
Among incoming first-year students, the share of students from historically underrepresented backgrounds fell to 18% — down by 9 percentage points from the previous cohort, according to the university.
At the time, an undergraduate admissions official said Brown had mitigated an even bigger drop in diversity through proactive outreach, including having admissions staff visit more community-based organizations and partnering with other colleges for recruitment travel.
However, at least one student pushed back on this assessment, arguing in an op-ed that Brown doesn’t do enough to diversify its student population and criticizing the university's standardized test requirements and use of legacy admissions practices.
Moving forward, Brown is seeking to expand its diversity recruitment efforts.
The university will create six new jobs designed to promote student diversity — five regionally-based admissions positions focused on local recruiting and an alumni relations position to boost engagement between alumni volunteers and potential students from underrepresented communities.
Donations will in part fund new recruitment programs and positions, according to Brown officials.
University officials are also reevaluating how they communicate with prospective students, their families and the community organizations that serve them.
New outreach materials will focus on accessibility and career resources, in addition to support services once students arrive on campus, Brown said. It will also distribute new admissions programming for guidance counselors that explains its "individualized admissions process that considers the experiences and context of every applicant."
Francis Doyle III, the university's provost, and Patricia Poitevien, interim vice president for institutional equity and diversity, said Wednesday that prospective students and their support networks should feel confident in Brown’s commitment "to providing a diverse and inclusive environment that is welcoming to students from all backgrounds."
"Year over year, we will evaluate our efforts to determine how the entire admission pipeline — including recruitment, selection and yield — results in the enrollment of students who can make the strongest contribution to Brown's academic mission by fostering an environment of diversity and inclusion," they said.
The efforts will involve the university's admissions and alumni relations offices, as well as its legal department, and equity and diversity office.
Brown will also lean heavily on its alumni network. In addition to the new alumni relations position, the university aims to use its pool of roughly 750 alumni volunteers to engage prospective students and similarly work with affinity groups.
