Two years after the Supreme Court deemed race-conscious admissions for higher education institutions unconstitutional, student leaders of campus racial affinity groups have noticed changes in their communities.
When the Supreme Court ruling was first enacted for the 2027 admissions cycle, Cornell saw a dramatic decrease in the percentage of first-year Black, Hispanic and Hawaiian/Pacific Islander students, going from 25.4% of the student body to 15.7%.
Admission rates for underrepresented minorities have decreased for many top schools nationwide. Still, in August 2025, the White House accused top schools of not upholding the Supreme Court ruling.
“The lack of available admissions data from universities — paired with the rampant use of ‘diversity statements’ and other overt and hidden racial proxies — continues to raise concerns about whether race is actually used in admissions decisions in practice,” the White House said in the statement.
As part of its recent settlement with the Trump administration, Cornell was asked to disclose admissions data to the White House, including the racial makeup of the student body.
After the Supreme Court ruling was announced, Lisa Nishii, vice provost for undergraduate education and vice provost for enrollment, told The Cornell Chronicle that the University’s compliance with the ruling would not compromise diversity commitments.
“[W]e have been proudly committed to educating students from every background. The Supreme Court’s decision in no way undermines that fundamental commitment,” Nishii told The Chronicle.
However, some student affinity groups have noticed a shift in campus culture in the wake of the settlement.
Christian Flournoy ’27, Student Assembly vice president and president of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first fraternity for Black students, detailed the impacts of this settlement on Black students in an email to The Sun.
“This shift has already reshaped campus life with fewer first-year Black students joining organizations, and many groups struggling to sustain engagement and programming,” Flournoy wrote.
Engineering clubs for marginalized communities on campus, for example, have seen a significant decrease in freshman membership.
Kankoune Yvon ’29, freshman representative for the Black Biomedical Association, reflected on conversations she has had with upperclassmen about the challenges of sustaining a vibrant Black community in light of the decreasing numbers in the association.
“The upperclassmen have [spoken about] the trouble of collecting enough Black individuals to attend their events,” Yvon told The Sun. “[They are not sure] whether it’s because Black students have lost their passion and comfort within the community, or whether it’s because of the end of affirmative action.”
Yvon also shared that Ujaama, the freshmen residential hall for students of African heritage which was once almost entirely Black, is now majority non-Black.
Myshay Causey ’29 said that Black freshmen go to Ujaama “searching out the [Black] community, and it’s no longer as ‘Black’ as it used to be and no longer as active.”
Causey said that Cornell’s Black community differs significantly from the community once described to her by Black upperclassmen and alumni.
“When I came here, I was told Cornell had an amazing Black community,” Causey said. “People come here expecting that [but] the community is not as big, so it lets freshmen down.”
Causey recently spoke at a Cornell Pan-African Students Association event called “Where the Black People At,” in which a panel student leaders discussed issues currently facing the Black community.
She discussed the issue that many “qualified Black applicants” feel as if Cornell and other top universities do not provide welcoming environments for Black students. She said that the perspective among Black seniors applying to elite colleges is, “Why would we want to apply when these schools are being openly racist against us?”
Asociación de Centro Americanos Unidos President Josue Ortiz ’26 wrote in an email statement to The Sun that the end of affirmative action has empowered Latino students to become more politically active on campus.
“What has shifted … noticeably is the campus climate and the level of political engagement among Latino students following both the Supreme Court decision and, more recently, President [Michael] Kotlikoff’s deal with the Trump administration,” Ortiz wrote.
Ortiz said that as Latino students begin to “navigate uncertainty around representation and admissions,” he has noticed increased emphasis on “supporting one another, sharing resources and building solidarity across Latinx identities.”
Although she said the end of affirmative action will be difficult for marginalized groups on campus, Prof. Ambre Dromgoole, Africana studies, takes issue with people calling today “unprecedented times.”
“As people feel anxious and scared about the trembling ground that we’re all walking on right now, there are playbooks called history that we can observe where this has happened,” Dromgoole said. “If we look back at the first reactions to to Africana Studies, it was a shift that institutions did not want and [believed] would threaten their federal funding.”
In 1969, Cornell established the Africana Studies department and Ujaama Residential College in response to the Willard Straight Hall takeover, staged by the Cornell Afro-American Society after several anti-Black incidents occurred on campus, including a cross being burned outside of a Black women’s cooperative housing building.
Dromgoole emphasized that this moment does not exist in a historical vacuum and is reminiscent of past racist events.
She said that it is “terrifying and scary that protections meant to recognize a student’s presence here as necessary” were terminated.
“Is it scary? Yes,” Dromgoole said. “But we’ve always had to contend with that [possibility].”
James Covit is a member of the Class of 2029 in the College of Arts and Sciences. He is a contributor for the News department and can be reached at jc3684@cornell.edu.
