Farr: Preserving Tradition While Advancing Equity Through Legacy Admissions
In the wake of the landmark Supreme Court decision that ruled to end race-conscious admissions within higher education, another admissions policy is currently under fire. Legacy admissions have come under scrutiny due to their historical tendency to favor affluent, white students disproportionately and often at the expense of Black, Asian, Native American and Hispanic students, which is a valid argument. A considerable number of Dartmouth’s peer institutions decided to sunset legacy admissions prior to the ruling. These institutions include, but are not limited to, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Amherst College, Johns Hopkins University and the University of Michigan. Each institution made the decision independently, but at the core of their decisions lies a shared belief that legacy admissions constitute a discriminatory policy.