Since last month’s Supreme Court ruling on the consideration of race in admissions, students, faculty, alumni and staff have shared with me their varied opinions, their reactions and their ideas for how Yale should move forward. 

Although it will take time to fully examine the ruling and determine Yale College’s response, I encourage all Yale College students to reflect on their personal response to the ruling and consider what steps they can take to promote inclusiveness and belonging within our student body and across higher education. 

Understandably, many members of our community have shared that the ruling has left them questioning their sense of belonging. Many also fear that future Yale classes will not include students from shared backgrounds, or that engagement in Yale’s robust cultural centers and affiliated student organizations will diminish in size or value. 

Regardless of one’s opinion on the ruling, I hope that all Yale students will join me in affirming that ours is a student body that is exceptionally rich in diversity — of talent, lived experience, identity, aspiration, belief, and much more — and that this diversity positively contributes to the learning experience. As President Salovey wrote, “Yale’s unwavering commitment to creating and sustaining a diverse and inclusive community…is core to our mission.” The Supreme Court changed its interpretation of the law — and Yale will certainly comply with that interpretation — but it did not change our values.

To our current students and alumni, I want to make clear that each of you was selected to join this remarkable community because of your distinct capacities to contribute to the college’s mission and to benefit from a Yale education in order to improve the world. For more than 50 years, our admissions committee has evaluated all applicants on the basis of these criteria.

I can also attest that, in my twenty years working in admissions at Yale, every applicant considered by the admissions committee has been understood as a complex and dynamic individual, and not — as much of the public discourse would suggest — as merely a collection of accomplishments, nor as a simple stereotype of any background or identity.

I am proud that in the ten years since I became Dean, Yale College has seen greater diversity in its student body along many dimensions. Of note, the number of students who identify as people of color and the number who will be the first in their families to attend college have increased by more than 60 percent, while the number of students eligible for a Pell Grant has nearly doubled. The 1,557 members of the class of 2027 graduated from more than 1,147 secondary schools in 51 US states and territories and 56 countries. Yale College now enrolls dozens more U.S. military veterans and community college graduates than it did a decade ago. 

The change is the result of an intentional and sustained commitment to all aspects of the admissions office’s work: outreach to prospective students, our committee-based selection process and efforts to yield admitted students, including Yale’s extraordinary need-based financial aid program. And it was accomplished while our admissions process has been more selective than ever before.

As expected, the Yale community has been full of ideas for how the University can comply with the ruling and maintain the progress we’ve made. I look forward to collaborating with fellow campus leaders to closely examine our admissions process under the new legal framework. 

As Dean Lewis and I wrote, we are committed to “ensuring that Yale continues to enroll promising students of all backgrounds and that we strengthen our longstanding support for our diverse community.” We also wrote that “Yale College seeks, celebrates and draws strength from the diversity of its student body, and from that diversity emerges excellence.” 

In the coming months, my colleagues and I will announce details of new initiatives designed to expand our outreach. But preserving Yale College’s strength and excellence will require more than new programs. Having represented Yale to countless prospective students since I was an undergraduate, I know that the most effective component of any college’s outreach strategy is a current student sharing their own personal experience. 

If you are concerned about the ruling’s impact on your community, you can make a difference in your community. Encourage promising high school students to consider Yale and other selective schools. Explain that Yale’s financial aid policies make an undergraduate education here more affordable than an in-state public university for most American families. Share how Yale builds community and promotes belonging in the cultural centers, residential colleges, the Office of LGBTQ Resources, the Chaplain’s Office and the newly announced Office of Educational Opportunity. Most importantly, share your story of how you chose Yale and detail how your experience is enhanced by the diverse and supportive community that surrounds you on campus. 

Although it will take time for the university to fully understand the ruling and determine which adjustments are necessary, each of us can respond now by upholding our community’s values and sharing them with those whose future presence on our campus will enhance Yale’s strength and excellence. 

There are many ways we can all respond to the Supreme Court’s ruling. My response is to roll up my sleeves and get to work. If you agree, I welcome your enthusiasm, creativity, intelligence and varied perspectives as we continue the successful work already underway to make Yale more excellent, more diverse and more welcoming.

Jeremiah Quinlan is the Yale College Dean of Undergraduate Admissions and Financial Aid. He graduated from Yale College in 2003.