From the President: Supreme Court Decision on Affirmative Action

June 29, 2023

Dear Southern Community:

Today, the Supreme Court rendered its decision rejecting race-conscious college admissions. The New York Times offers a comprehensive look at the decision and the national implications on diversifying U.S. institutions.

At Southern, the ramifications remain to be seen. In our admission process, we look for evidence that each applicant can successfully earn a degree at our institution and aim to provide broad access and opportunity to a college education. As a regional, comprehensive, public university committed to inclusion and equity, we admit every qualified applicant.

At the same time, we will be reviewing the decision carefully to understand any impact on how we gather and incorporate information about students' racial and ethnic identities in the design of our programming and support, and as we measure our effectiveness in pursuing our goal of equitable outcomes for all our scholars.

At Southern, we will remain persistent and firmly committed to our mission of social justice.  In fact, there is no greater social justice cause than access and the opportunity to earn a college degree.

As we aspire to become a benchmark institution that others will model, let us all reflect in solidarity with those institutions who will feel the immediate consequences of this decision more acutely, and most of all, support our scholars of color who will be significantly impacted by the decision. I thank you for all you do to make Southern a community of connection, care, and belongingness, on campus and beyond.

Sincerely,

Dr. Dwayne Smith
Interim President