Affirmative action ruling won't change University of Tennessee, but leaders vow to improve
A landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling has upended many colleges' admission policies, but will have no direct impact on the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, which doesn't consider race when selecting its students. The decision, however, has prompted universities nationwide to discuss admissions polices, and UT leaders have vowed to improve their efforts to attract students that reflect the state's diversity.
The percentage of students of color at UT's flagship campus in Knoxville has increased only slightly, and lags behind other Southeastern Conference universities, other comparable American universities and universities it aspires to emulate.
"UT Knoxville has long had a commitment to educational access and strives to create a campus community at which all students feel welcomed, valued and have the tools they need to be successful," UT spokesperson Kerry Gardner said in a statement to Knox News. "Race was not being used as a deciding factor for evaluating admissions and institutional scholarship applications before the Supreme Court decision."
"Our process will not change. Our holistic admissions review process takes into consideration a number of college readiness factors, including rigor of high school curriculum, academic progression, standardized test scores, extracurricular and leadership activities, community impact, academic program of interest and academic program capacity.”
On June 29, the Supreme Court ruled against affirmative action at Harvard and the University of North Carolina, which considered race as part of the application process. Justices in the majority said the system gives an unfair advantage to Black and Latino students and discriminates against Asian and white students.
UT diversity rates increase slightly over the past six years
The percentage of nonwhite racial and ethnic groups enrolled at UT has barely changed over the past six years, increasing only incrementally alongside growing overall enrollment.
From 2017 to 2021, UT Knoxville's student diversity rose from 17% to 18%, and from 18% to 19% for undergraduates. In 2022, UT's percentages increased, but not enough to round up to the next percentage with the total at 18.4% and undergraduates at 19.2%.
SEC schools, on average, have a more diverse student body. The conference's nonwhite percentage rose from 24% to 27% in that time, and undergraduate percentage went from 26% to 28%.
The diversity percentages for comparable universities' enrollment rose from 19% to 22%. For undergraduates, that increase was from 20% to 23%.
These are the universities UT compares itself to because of size and academic offerings: Auburn, Clemson, Colorado, Iowa State, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Virginia Tech.
The diversity percentage for the student body for aspirational universities started at 23% and hit 27% by 2021. The undergraduate diversity percentage started at 25% and reached 29% in the same time frame.
The universities UT aspires to compare itself to are: Georgia, Illinois, Michigan State, North Carolina State, Penn State and Purdue.
The data for the diversity percentages was shared during the UT Board of Trustees meeting on June 29.
Knox News cross-referenced the data with enrollment data from UT's Fact Book. The percentages were calculated using students enrolled who are Hispanic of any race, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian or Pacific Islander, Black or African American and those who are two or more races.
Year | UT Total | UT Undergraduate | Comparable Total | Comparable Undergraduate | Aspirational Total | Aspirational Undergraduate | SEC Total | SEC Undergraduate |
2017 | 17% | 18% | 19% | 20% | 23% | 25% | 24% | 26% |
2018 | 17% | 18% | 20% | 21% | 24% | 26% | 25% | 26% |
2019 | 18% | 19% | 20% | 21% | 25% | 28% | 26% | 27% |
2020 | 18% | 19% | 21% | 22% | 26% | 28% | 27% | 28% |
2021 | 18% | 19% | 22% | 23% | 27% | 29% | 27% | 28% |
University of Tennessee's definition of diversity
University of Tennessee System President Randy Boyd acknowledged the university's need to improve.
"Diversity means to us access, and that’s in our land grant mission. Our land grant mission says that we’re here to provide access to all Tennesseans, to give them an opportunity for a better education, a ladder up for the working class and the middle class, for people of all backgrounds," Boyd said during the June 30 university board meeting.
"When we talk about access, that means access for adult learners, that means access for our rural students, that means access for our minorities, that means access for our first generation students, that means access for our veterans. It means access for everybody."
Boyd highlighted the tiny increases in diversity across the system saying, "We're going to take that to heart."
Keenan Thomas is a higher education reporter. Email keenan.thomas@knoxnews.com. Twitter @specialk2real.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Affirmative action ruling won't change University of Tennessee
