ERNA DC Testimony Before SBOE on Legacy Admissions
Cesar Toledo
Deputy Director
Education Reform Now Advocacy - DC
President Thompson, Board members, and staff of the Board of Education. My name is Cesar Toledo. I am a Ward 6 resident and the Deputy Director of the DC Chapter of Education Reform Now Advocacy (ERNA), an organization fighting for a just and equitable public education system for all DC students.
I am here to speak in support of SR24-16, the State Board of Education’s Resolution Calling for an End to Legacy and Donor Admission Preferences in Postsecondary Education. These preferences exacerbate challenges native DC students face in accessing college, and they should be banned.
We have yet to have a complete data-backed understanding of the negative impacts of the disastrous Supreme Court ruling striking race-conscious admissions, but estimates show that it could lead to a 10% drop in Black and Latino student enrollments nationwide. [1]
As a first-generation Latino raised by immigrant parents who came to this country at a very young age, I see my story reflected across the thousands of Latino DC students who face unprecedented hurdles in escaping the poverty cycle by completing a college degree. Nationally, the gap in degree completion between Latinos and their White peers has increased [2] and in DC, our Latino students have the lowest postsecondary enrollment compared to their peers at 44% [3]. With an estimated 40% of the city’s population foreign-born [4], we must dismantle racist barriers that disproportionately impact our most vulnerable neighbors.
It’s time for DC leaders to step up and join Virginia and Maryland in making college access equal and based on merit, not on familial bloodlines that disproportionately benefit the white elite class.
There is notable support for ending legacy admissions. For example:
70% of DC voters support banning this practice [5]
Eight organizations, including the NAACP, signed onto ERN DC’s letter opposing legacy admissions [6]
Nearly 500 DC residents across all 8 Wards, including students at Georgetown University, George Washington University, and Howard University, signed a petition to ban legacy admissions
Georgetown University students have been leading on this issue for years, collecting hundreds of signatures, but have been stonewalled by the university administration [7]
National leaders have spoken out against legacy, including
Members of Congress, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders [10], and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez [11] and Barbara Lee [12]
NAACP President and CEO said, “Legacy and donor admissions have long served to perpetuate an inherently racist college admissions process.” [13]
Postsecondary Crisis for DC Students
We believe DC should support efforts to increase the number of students who finish high school and complete college. [14] Just 18 out of 100 ninth-grade students earn a degree six years after graduating high school. [15] Most jobs in DC require postsecondary training, which limits DC natives’ job prospects. [16] Ultimately, native Washingtonians’ average income doesn’t reach a living wage level. [17] DC must do more to ensure students are equipped to thrive in life.
Legacy Admissions Are Part of the College Access Problem
Legacy preferences in admissions give an unfair advantage to applicants with family members who previously attended the university, disproportionately favoring white and wealthy students. This is a clear example of systemic racism.
Legacy admissions are widespread across the U.S. A 2020 survey of four-year colleges found that nearly half consider legacy status in their admissions process. [18]
Four major universities (Catholic, Georgetown, George Washington, and Howard) in DC use legacy preference. These institutions do not pay property or income taxes [19] and receive millions in city contract dollars each year. [20]
In Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, the Supreme Court banned the consideration of race, and when combined with legacy preferences, this may reduce the enrollment of students of color in colleges.
Additionally, there is some early evidence that eliminating the legacy preference created more seats for students with Pell Grants, particularly at John Hopkins University and Amherst College. Hopkins went from 12.5% of freshmen that were legacies and just 9% Pell-eligible pre-elimination to 3.5% legacy and 9.1 % Pell-eligible post-elimination. Amherst's legacy percentage went from 11% to 6% and they hit their highest Pell share ever this past year. Every legacy student represents a lost chance to enroll one more student with financial need.
Increasing Resistance to Legacy Preference
Despite the prevalence of this unfair policy, there are encouraging signs of change. Since 2015, around 400 colleges and universities [21], including Johns Hopkins and George Mason University [22], have stopped considering legacy status in admissions. The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights is currently investigating Harvard and Penn to determine whether providing a legacy preference violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. [23] At highly selective colleges such as Harvard, Cornell, Georgetown, and Princeton, most undergraduates, including legacies, oppose passing an admissions advantage along family bloodlines. [24] Additionally, seven out of eight admissions office leaders believe that legacies should not receive an admissions advantage. [25]
There is widespread, bipartisan public opposition to legacy preference. Three-quarters of Americans think that colleges and universities should not consider who an applicant is related to as part of its admissions process. [26] Notably, 70% of D.C. voters supported banning legacy admissions, according to a September 2023 poll. [27]
Other states, including DC’s neighbors, have already taken legislative action against this injustice. Maryland banned legacy admissions at both public and private institutions, while Virginia banned the practice at public institutions. Colorado and Illinois have also banned legacy admissions at public institutions. Additionally, six states (California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, and Rhode Island) have introduced legislation to ban legacy admissions, with Illinois passing a bill that is awaiting the governor's signature.
In addition, Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Todd Young (R-Indiana) [28] and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) [29] proposed bills banning the practice nationwide.
End Legacy Preference
Too few DC native students are attending and graduating college and can access family-sustaining jobs. As a city, we must urgently address this crisis.
DC should ban legacy preference as a concrete strategy to increase college access for DC students furthest from opportunity. We must take action to remedy this inequitable practice.
Privileged students should not get preference in admissions at the detriment of Black and Latino first-generation students. Let’s give all our students a fair shot by ending legacy admissions.
Thank you. I welcome your questions.
