The Student Government Association (SGA) convened on Tuesday, Oct. 22 for their weekly meeting.This week’s meeting included a public town hall to discuss the decrease in the racial diversity in the class of 2028 and future steps to address the issue, moderated by Senator Cynthia Sanchez Hidalgo, SGA Treasurer Brandon Benjamin, Senator Srigouri Oruganty and Senator Nayshawn Ferebee.
During the first portion of the town hall, members of SGA and the student body discussed the negative impacts of the decline in diversity. Student leaders from cultural groups reported lower numbers of new Black and Latinx members compared to previous years.
Caribbean Cultural Society Vice President Mariel Lindsay voiced her concern that a less diverse student body would dissuade prospective minority students from applying.
“A question I get asked a lot by Black prospective students is how to find community, or what it’s like on campus .. I want to be able to say how it really is, and I want to be able to tell them that they’ll find community here, but it’s not really something I believe now,” she said.
Multiple students also expressed the concern that a smaller minority community would decrease the number of campus spaces for Black and Latinx students.
“We are able to come to these spaces because of people before us … If it’s just a few Black and Hispanic freshmen, they’re going to have the hardest amount of work to be able to create an entire community,” senior Stephanie Parker said.
Throughout the discussion, students suggested potential methods to keep campus diverse in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s affirmative action decision.
One of the main suggestions was to increase outreach to underserved high schools in Baltimore, including recruitment efforts and visits from admissions staff.
“We can advise the admissions council and President Daniels to go out to the Greater Baltimore area, start to advocate for Hopkins and recruit students of color to apply,” Black Student Union Vice President Ty’Shera Mintz said.
Students suggested that admissions could begin by increasing outreach in Baltimore and later expand to underserved communities in larger geographic regions. The moderators also said that student groups could reach out to admissions directly so their voices would not be altered through SGA.
Students also shared their experiences of being a minority on campus.
Colombian Student Association president Catalina Hernandez Valencia expressed that she was frustrated because an admissions social media page had used a photo of her and her friends to advertise the University’s diversity, despite the fact that the minority population had decreased in the Class of 2028.
“In a lot of [the Office of Admissions’] marketing, around the time that those percentages were released, they really took advantage of the pictures they have of students of color. A picture of me and my friend walking through campus was used as the main picture for the newsletter where they released those percentages,” she said. “That’s infuriating, because how dare you use an image of me to represent your campus? My community almost halved in the percentage of representation.”
Additionally, students voiced that they did not feel comfortable discussing topics involving diversity and inclusion with faculty.
“I was a part of the 2022 campus climate survey, and on the results, many people, specifically Black and Hispanic students, reported microaggressions received in class from faculty and staff, the fact that they don’t feel safe talking to the majority of their professors about issues, or that it’s hard for students to find faculty members that they can confide in,” Office of Multicultural Affairs Intern Akosa Obianwu said.
Following the open discussion, Hidalgo read a resolution she had drafted for administration, titled “Proposed Resolution for a Town Hall on the Decline of Latino and Black Student Enrollment.” The resolution called on Hopkins administration to address the decrease in diversity, adding that the affirmative action decision does not in itself account for this year’s decrease, as other schools have managed to keep their minority enrollments at the same level.
The resolution proposed increased outreach to first generation students, greater emphasis on socioeconomic indicators, and targeted recruitment in underserved communities. It also called for a public town hall with the Office of Admissions, students, faculty and staff to discuss the issue and asked University administration and President Ronald J. Daniels to address both their failure in maintaining campus diversity and the perceived downplaying of the issue.
For future admissions cycles, the resolution asked for the creation of an advisory board to keep future classes diverse, with representatives from the Office of Admissions, SGA, CDI and student leaders from underrepresented communities.
After the reading, moderators opened the floor for feedback. Students asked for an additional section addressing transparency from Hopkins administration. One student suggested a survey for faculty and staff about the University’s progress in increasing diversity in the past two years. Another asked for greater transparency in funding to CDI and cultural student organizations. An SGA member suggested that the resolution should include a deadline for administration to respond, as the resolution would impact the current admissions cycle.
Hidalgo concluded by presenting a proposed survey for the student body about their experiences with diversity and inclusion on campus.
