Trump orders colleges to prove they don’t consider race in admissions
President Donald Trump on Thursday signed a memorandum requiring colleges to prove they do not consider race in admissions. This follows a Supreme Court ruling in 2023 against affirmative action. The court allowed colleges to consider how race has shaped students’ lives if applicants shared that information in essays. Trump’s Republican administration accuses colleges of using personal statements as proxies to consider race. The policy issued Thursday has similarities to parts of agreements with Brown and Columbia universities, which agreed to provide data on race as part of settlements to restore their federal funding. Conservatives argue colleges still consider race through proxy measures, but no clear pattern emerged in the racial makeup of last year’s freshman class.