Wesleyan University ending legacy admissions after Supreme Court ruling

Wesleyan University announced Wednesday it will end its legacy admissions after the Supreme Court ruled last month to curtail the use of affirmative action in the college admission process. 

“An applicant’s connection to a Wesleyan graduate indicates little about that applicant’s ability to succeed at the University, meaning that legacy status has played a negligible role in our admission process for many years,” Wesleyan President Michael Roth said in an announcement.

“Nevertheless, in the wake of the recent Supreme Court decision regarding affirmative action, we believe it important to formally end admission preference for ‘legacy applicants,’” Roth added. 

While he says multi-generational students are still highly valued at the school, they will not get a “bump” in the admissions process. 

Legacy admissions, the practice of giving preferential treatment to applicants who have had family members attend the school before, has come under fire after the Supreme Court ruled schools can not give such a bump to students based on race or ethnicity.

Advocates against legacy admissions say the practice favors applicants who are white, rich or both.

“It is important to underscore that Wesleyan has never fixated on a checked box indicating a student’s racial identification or family affiliations. We have long taken an individualized, holistic view of an applicant’s lived experience — as seen through the college essay, high school record, letters of recommendation, and interactions with our community,” Roth said. 

Moving forward, the university wants to continue to ensure a diverse student body, work toward geological diversity in the U.S., and enhance recruitment efforts for undergraduates from Africa, veterans and community colleges, according to the announcement. 

The school will also work on outreach to community-based organizations and offering degree programs to incarcerated individuals. 

Legacy admissions are often practiced at Ivy League schools and more selective colleges in the U.S. Only Colorado has a state law on the books to ban the use of legacy admissions.