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Amherst was known for its diverse student population. Now it is trying to save that legacy without violating the law.
April 25, 2025Updated 8:24 a.m. ET
One of the nation’s most elite liberal arts schools, Amherst College has historically also been one of its most diverse.
In 2023, federal data revealed that its overall Black enrollment, 11 percent of the student body, far outstripped many other similar institutions.
So it was particularly jarring to the Amherst community last fall when data for the entering freshman class revealed that only 3 percent of its members were Black.
Quincy Smith, an art major, joined one of the most diverse classes in Amherst history in 2022 and said gatherings of Black students feel different now: “There’s less engagement, fewer people coming to our meetings and going to events.”
At Amherst, a college of about 1,900 undergraduates in western Massachusetts, students and administrators alike are now uneasy as the idea of diversity, one of the school’s core values, is increasingly under attack by conservatives in Washington.
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