Dear Harvard Admissions Committee,
Congratulations! It is my pleasure to applaud you for accepting the minimum quota of minority students in the undergraduate school. Harvard University proudly considers itself a diverse college by enrolling 22% Asian American, 15% African American, 12% Latino, and 1% Native American in the Class of 2022. Although the numbers are still significantly low for African Americans and Latinos, I sincerely trust that Harvard University will aim to increase those numbers overtime. However, you’re not done yet. It is one thing to admit students of color, but it is a whole other hurdle to retain those students of color once admitted.
This issue is particularly personal in my case, as I apply for graduate programs through the 2019 Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship. I have the unique opportunity to receive emails from top International Relations and Public Policy grad schools across the nation, each inviting me to apply to their programs. Now that my graduate education is funded by the Pickering Fellowship, I have the privilege to thoroughly research each school’s curriculum and campus environments. The top IR and policy schools consistently rank schools like Harvard and Columbia at the top. Yet, I can’t help but feel hesitant to committing my fellowship to an Ivy League school.
These Ivy League schools certainly flaunt their ability to create a diverse campus, but they often neglect to produce an inclusive environment. Diversity and inclusion are not the same concept. Diversity gives you the statistics, but inclusion leads to the four-year graduation rates and post-grad employment. Luckily for me, I have a guaranteed job after the completion of my master’s program to join the Foreign Service. Thus, my main focus is: Which school will I thrive in and feel a sense of belonging? Even in my undergrad experience at a public university, my happiness and success stemmed from joining the Hispanic Business Student Association in my freshman year. I felt a huge sense of family and belonging with other Latino, first-gen students in addition to other students with diverse backgrounds who engaged in inclusivity. Unfortunately, I now hear stories from current Ivy League grad students who repeatedly warn me about the lack of inclusivity and overload of elitism in the student body. Even a Latina Pickering Fellow claimed her grad school experience was miserable and she would have matriculated anywhere else to avoid an Ivy League institution, due to systemic flaws in retaining students of color.
So what would improve the undergrad or grad school experience for students of color? More specifically, how can Ivy League institutions such as Harvard convey to prospective minority students that they are invested in their long-term success at their school? I would recommend Harvard University invest in a summer enrichment program for students of low-income, first-generation, and underrepresented backgrounds for the difficult transition to higher education. These types of students, like me, do not have a vast network or inside knowledge of graduate school in our back pocket. Most of us are simply determined to pioneer the path to higher education and not fall behind. Thus, Harvard should invest in a 1-2 day program to build a support system among other students with similar backgrounds and give them a chance to network with Harvard advisers or faculty members. Students would benefit from their first year with an established network and feeling of community before they even begin classes. This initiative is just the beginning of a long road of reform if universities are truly committed to retaining the minority students they try so hard to recruit.
This type of programming is a worthy investment if Harvard University hopes to retain their bright and diverse student body.
Best regards,
Quimberly Jasso
A senior International Relations and Global Studies major at the University of Texas at Austin, pursuing her Master of International Affairs with a focus on East Asian and Security Studies through the Thomas R. Pickering Fellowship.
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