Oppose Dismantling of College Admissions Equity Tools

I am deeply concerned about the recent decision by the College Board to eliminate the Landscape tool, which was designed to identify promising students from disadvantaged backgrounds. This move, coupled with the Trump administration's aggressive stance against diversity initiatives in higher education, represents a significant step backward in our nation's commitment to equal opportunity. The Landscape tool, which provided contextual information about applicants' schools and neighborhoods without considering race or ethnicity, was a valuable resource for admissions officers. It helped level the playing field for students from less privileged backgrounds by providing crucial socioeconomic context. The tool's removal, ostensibly due to "evolving federal and state policies," is a thinly veiled capitulation to political pressure that undermines the principles of fairness and inclusivity in higher education. The consequences of this decision are already apparent. Following the Supreme Court's decision to end affirmative action, we've seen a decrease in Black and Hispanic student enrollment across graduate and undergraduate programs. This trend is likely to worsen without tools like Landscape to help identify talented students from all backgrounds. The administration's actions, including Attorney General Pam Bondi's warnings against using "unlawful proxies" for race and the Education Department's new reporting requirements, create a chilling effect on efforts to promote diversity in higher education. These moves, along with the presidential memorandum requiring institutions to provide race-based admissions data, appear to be thinly veiled attempts to intimidate schools and roll back progress on equity. I urge you to take a stand against these regressive policies. We need legislation that protects and promotes diversity in higher education, not policies that dismantle the tools designed to achieve it. The future of our nation depends on nurturing talent from all corners of our society, regardless of socioeconomic background. Please work to counter these harmful actions and support initiatives that foster true equality of opportunity in our education system.