Harvard’s freshman class is mostly nonwhite for the first time ever

Harvard University’s admissions statistics show an incoming class of mostly nonwhite students — a first in the university’s 380-year history.

According to Harvard University, roughly 50.9 percent of this year’s incoming freshman are Asian, African American, Latino and Native American. The largest racial group are Asians at 22.2 percent followed by African Americans at 14.6 percent, Hispanic/Latinos at 11.6 percent and Native American or Pacific Islander at 2.5 percent.

The Boston Globe reports that the amount of admitted minorities is up from 47.3 percent last year.

This comes after The New York Times published a report detailing President Donald Trump’s administration’s push for the Justice Department to investigate affirmative action policies and college admission discrimination —against whites.

The Trump administration later said it wasn’t planing sweeping investigations into race-based discrimination in university admissions, but it instead was checking out a single complaint.

Rachael Dane, a spokeswoman for Harvard, told the Boston Globe that the university takes its commitment to diversity seriously.

“To become leaders in our diverse society, students must have the ability to work with people from different backgrounds, life experiences and perspectives. Harvard remains committed to enrolling diverse classes of students,” Dane told the Boston Globe. “Harvard’s admissions process considers each applicant as a whole person, and we review many factors, consistent with the legal standards established by the US Supreme Court.”

This story was originally published August 3, 2017 at 8:29 PM with the headline "Harvard’s freshman class is mostly nonwhite for the first time ever."