A Massachusetts advisory council has announced policy recommendations for colleges and universities it says would make higher education more accessible for historically underrepresented groups, including Black, Latino, LGBTQ+ and students with disabilities.
The Advisory Council for the Advancement of Representation in Education was created in response to a 2023 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that effectively ended race-conscious admission programs at colleges and universities across the country.
The impact of the decision has already caused declines in students of color on many college campuses, including in Massachusetts.
Massachusetts Commissioner of Higher Education Noe Ortega, who co-chairs the council, visited Westfield High School on Wednesday to outline the recommendations.
They include increasing exposure to higher education for students starting in kindergarten, re-engaging with adult learners, implementing innovative recruitment and enrollment policies, and providing additional financial aid opportunities.
"We've got the power and the opportunity to put in place practices that make sure that we continue to advocate for equitable admission practices, to make sure that all historically underrepresented students are given access to [Massachusetts] institutions of higher education," Ortega said.
Ortega thanked the members of the 60-person council, including educators, college students and civil rights attorneys, some of whom were at the Westfield event.
Massachusetts Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler said the report is a call to action.
"We remain unshaken in our values and efforts, focused on safeguarding equitable access to higher education," Tutwiler said. "We are not going back."
Tutwiler, who also co-chairs the panel, said it was not "hyperbole" to say that standing on a high school stage as the state's secretary of education was anything but inevitable. He is Massachusetts's first Black secretary of education.
"Right now, right here — it's our turn. Our duty to put a stake in the ground, to make a difference," Tutwiler said.
