Student Voices

POV: Why We Should Be Worried about the Decline of Black Students at BU

Student Government president says University needs to find “progressive and pragmatic ways” to ensure racial diversity

My name is Kwasi Antwi, and I am president of Boston University’s Student Government for the 2024-2025 academic year. I want to share with you my personal thoughts regarding a worrying development in racial demographics at BU.

This September, enrollment of Black first-year students at Boston University plummeted from the previous year from 9 percent to 3 percent, the sharpest decline in the enrollment of students of color overall. Furthermore, the percentage of the total number of underrepresented students declined from 22 percent for the Class of 2027 to 15 percent for the Class of 2028. These troubling statistics follow the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision striking down race-conscious considerations in university admissions—also known as affirmative action—a 40-year precedent that provided a valuable and powerful tool for schools like BU to racially diversify their student bodies.

While every student may not agree on the validity of race-conscious admissions, I believe that all students can share in the same disappointment I feel seeing these numbers. Racial diversity is a core aspect of the BU experience, and it consistently ranks among the top considerations of prospective students when choosing to attend a school like ours. As a Black student, I was especially saddened to learn that fewer students from my community would attain the privilege to excel, make memories, and thrive here.

When looking back at admissions during the era of affirmative action and as we look ahead to finding new ways of diversifying our student body, one thing should remain clear: considering race has never compromised merit. All students enrolled at BU deserve to be here, including, and especially, Black students, who are some of the most talented, bright, and intuitive community leaders on this campus. This principle must guide our next steps forward or we’ll continue to suffer sharp declines in our Black student population and their resources.

Now is the time for the University to commit to pursuing engaging policies for drawing more prospective Black students, such as including increasing partnerships with entities giving low-income scholarships, hiring more Black professors and lecturers, and laying the groundwork for a future Black Student Resource Center. 

In the coming weeks, I’ll be reaching out to members of the University’s administration to gain more clarity on their plans in the new admissions landscape, as well as to make suggestions for how BU could implement my recommendations. Together we can work towards progressive and pragmatic ways to tackle such a tough issue. Success in these initiatives will ensure continued progress towards increasing racial diversity at an institution that thrives on it.

Akwasi Antwi (CAS’25) is president of BU Student Government. He can be reached at abantwi@bu.edu

“POV” is an opinion page that provides timely commentaries from students, faculty, and staff on a variety of issues: on-campus, local, state, national, or international. Anyone interested in submitting a piece, which should be about 700 words long, should contact today@bu.edu. BU Today reserves the right to reject or edit submissions. The views expressed are solely those of the author and are not intended to represent the views of Boston University.