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Harvard Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid William R. Fitzsimmons ’67 said the admissions office will not decide the future of legacy preference in admissions in an interview Thursday, his first with The Crimson since the Supreme Court effectively struck down affirmative action.
“The admissions office does not make decisions on this kind of thing,” Fitzsimmons said. “We would leave that to the University leadership.”
In the wake of the Supreme Court ruling, many have questioned the fairness of certain admissions preferences — like legacy preferences — that disproportionately benefit white and wealthy students.
According to research done by an expert witness for Students for Fair Admissions — the anti-affirmative action group that sued Harvard for its consideration of race in admissions — 43 percent of white admits to the University between 2009 to 2014 were athletes, legacies, children of faculty, or on the dean’s list.
In July, following President Biden’s criticisms of legacy admissions, the U.S. Department of Education opened an investigation into Harvard’s use of the practice. Last month, lawmakers introduced a bill that would bar colleges from federal funding and accreditation if they practiced legacy preferential admissions.
Still, Fitzsimmons said legacy status is “one factor among many.”
Fitzsimmons also addressed the following topics during the interview:
Changes to the Application Process
After the Supreme Court’s decision on affirmative action, Harvard altered its supplemental application questions for the Class of 2028.
The new application required applicants to answer five 200-word short answer prompts covering topics including life experience, intellectual and extracurricular interests, and how applicants hoped to use their Harvard education.
In creating the new supplement format, Fitzsimmons said, admissions officers were asked to reflect on the most relevant information from past admissions essays.
Fitzsimmons said he believes the new short answer questions are more “direct” and make applying to Harvard more accessible.
“Frankly, if you don’t have an independent counselor or if you don’t have a counselor in your own high school who’s helping you with this, if you don’t have parents who are helping with this, we’re giving you the guideline,” Fitzsimmons said.
Diversity Efforts
Fitzsimmons also spoke about diversity at Harvard in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision.
Fitzsimmons said there is a sense of collective concern regarding diversity on Harvard’s campus among administrators, including University President Claudine Gay and Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra.
“Everyone at Harvard, including Claudine Gay and Dean Hoekstra and the entire leadership of Harvard, is concerned about diversity of all kinds and have made strong statements since the SCOTUS decision,” Fitzsimmons said.
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Fitzsimmons also added that Harvard has continued its recruiting efforts with the Undergraduate Minority Recruitment Program and the Joint Travel program. Recruitment programs put admission officers face-to-face with prospective students to make the case for Harvard.
According to the Harvard Gazette, a University-run publication, Harvard has also joined STORY — the Small Town Outreach, Recruitment, and Yield Program. STORY includes 30 public and private institutions focused on recruitment in rural communities.
“The whole idea is to expand the number of high schools where we’re attracting students,” Fitzsimmons said.
Staying Test Optional
In 2021, Harvard committed to a four-year pilot of test-optional admissions, extending the policy instituted in 2020 at the height of the pandemic.
According to Fitzsimmons, the College will make an announcement within the next few years on whether test-optional policies will remain for the Class of 2031 and beyond.
Fitzsimmons said a committee — composed of members of the admissions office and the FAS, as well as administrators such as Gay and Hoekstra — will conduct a “full evaluation of test optional over the next year or two.”
The new test optional policy has increased the number of international students who apply and are admitted to Harvard, Fitzsimmons said. International students make up nearly 17 percent of early action admits in the Class of 2028, compared to just 9.6 percent of the Class of 2024.
“There are a lot of people who really could not afford to apply in the past, who are international students, who are now applying,” Fitzsimmons said.
Regarding his future as dean amid significant changes to the admissions landscape, Fitzsimmons, who has served in his role since 1986, jokingly said he plans to retire in 2036 — Harvard’s 400th anniversary.
“I have no immediate plans to retire,” he said.
—Staff writer Michelle N. Amponsah can be reached at michelle.amponsah@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X at @mnamponsah.
—Staff writer Emma H. Haidar can be reached at emma.haidar@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @HaidarEmma.
