A recent article in The Washington Post reported on modifications that colleges are making in response to the Supreme Court decision, Gratz v. Bollinger, prohibiting admissions offices from using a point system. The article focused on the College's Students of Color Weekend. According to The Post, the College plans to open this weekend to low-income whites, but President Anthony Marx denies this decision has been made.
The Students of Color weekends brings between 165 and 185 potential applicants to the College every year. These potential applicants are initially contacted by the College based on their PSAT scores and are then invited to apply to attend the weekend. The College subsidizes the visits based on need.
The goal of the weekend is to give potential applicants a chance to visit the College. "These are students who already know a fair amount about Amherst. Now they get to experience an in depth look at Amherst," Parker said.
Jennifer Brown '05 credits the Students of Color weekend for her decision to matriculate at the College. "I wouldn't have been able to visit if [the College] had not invited me. If they hadn't contacted me, I probably wouldn't have heard of Amherst," said Brown. "If it weren't for that weekend, I wouldn't be here."
Since only 192 self-reportedly black test-takers nationally scored higher than 1450 on the SATs, there is competition among top schools to recruit top students, reported The Post. The College attempts to attract stellar minority students through events like the Students of Color Weekend. "The weekend is an essential part of our diversity program," said Parker.
Brown supports broadening the categories of people who can be included in special weekend events at the College. "I think it's great. They could reach out to more students, that would be great," she said.
Will Pruitt '07 echoed Brown's sentiments. "I think that it would be good because there is a relative absence of lower class students here," he said. "I think that groups that are underrepresented at Amherst should have the opportunity to come and see [the College] for themselves and possibly be recruited."
Other students were not as certain that the expansion of the weekend would be such a good idea. "I'd be lying if I said that I've made up my mind one way or the other," said John Pourciau '05. "As long as it doesn't interfere with [the weekend's] role in recruiting minority students, I don't see it as a problem," he said.
Pourciau did express reservations about grouping minorities with the financially disadvantaged. "I don't know if it's good to link a school's ethnic diversity with its financial diversity because it leads to assumptions about the minorities," he said.
Following the Supreme Court ruling, colleges were relieved with the Court's decision to allow the consideration of an applicant's race as long as it is on a case-by-case basis, according to The Post. Parker believes that programs that take minority status into account have helped to further the College's goal of a diverse student body. "Without these weekends, we would be a less diverse place," he said.
Programs that recruit based on race still have critics and may face challenges. "In practice, admissions officers say any program that smacks of racial exclusivity is open to challenge," reported The Post.
The College has not yet decided specifically what, if any, changes to implement. "I don't think we have concluded yet whether we need to change that weekend and if so, in what way exactly we might do so," said Marx.
Regardless of the decisions made regarding students of color weekend, Marx added that "none of this diminishes our commitment to diversity on every front."