Race/Related: Harvard’s Black student enrollment dips

But the picture of college admissions after the end of affirmative action is more nuanced and complex than predicted.

View in browser|nytimes.com September 13, 2024 SUPPORTED BY PFIZER The share of Asian students in Harvard's new class stayed the same, but the share of students who did not disclose a race or an ethnicity doubled. David Degner for The New York Times By Anemona Hartocollis The picture of college admissions after the end of affirmative action is more nuanced and complex than predicted. The predictions were dire. In the course of a bitterly contested trial six years ago, Harvard University said that if it were forced to stop considering race in admissions, the diversity of its undergraduate classes would be badly compromised. Now, a year after the Supreme Court struck down the school's admissions system, effectively ending affirmative action in college admissions everywhere, the numbers are in for the first class to be admitted, and the picture is more nuanced and complex than predicted. The proportion of Black first-year students enrolled at Harvard this fall has declined to 14 percent from 18 percent last year, according to data released by the institution on Wednesday — a dip smaller than the school had predicted, but still significant. Asian American representation in the class of 1,647 students remained the same as last year, at 37 percent. Hispanic enrollment has gone up, to 16 percent from 14 percent. Harvard did not report the share of white students in the class, consistent with past practice, and it is hard to make inferences because the percentage of students not disclosing race or ethnicity on their applications doubled to 8 percent this year from 4 percent last year. Sophie Park for The New York Times Continue reading → A MESSAGE FROM PFIZER Overcoming stigmas in sickle cell disease care Overcoming stigmas in sickle cell disease care Body: 1 of every 365 Black children born in the U.S. has sickle cell disease. The disease can induce episodes of searing pain and can lead to anemia, blood clots, pulmonary hypertension, stroke, kidney and liver problems, and premature death. It's concerning that the condition is widely misunderstood – even among many of the healthcare practitioners upon whom patients depend. We can seize the momentum of medical progress to help change the lives of the 100,000 people in the U.S. who have the disease. Learn more EDITORS' PICKS We publish many articles that touch on race. Here are a few you shouldn't miss. Van Vechten Trust Fall Preview Alvin Ailey, the Man and the Mind Behind the Unapologetic Sparkle In "Edges of Ailey," a new exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art, the choreographer takes center stage. It's another revelation. 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