We Shall Not Be Moved: Civil Rights Advocates Release 100 Policy Recommendations to Achieve Racial Equity and Diversity in Higher Education

Education News 09.24.24

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mattie Goldman, [email protected] 

The robust policy agenda includes recommendations for federal, state, and local advocates and policymakers to achieve our shared goal of equal opportunity in spite of the Supreme Court’s efforts to turn back progress 

WASHINGTON — The Leadership Conference Education Fund today released a robust and inclusive policy agenda — We Shall Not be Moved: A Policy Agenda to Achieve the National Imperative of Racial Equity and Diversity in Higher Education. The policy agenda — which has been endorsed by the NAACP, National Urban League, National Women’s Law Center, and the Center for Law and Social Policy — consists of 100 recommendations at the federal, state, and institutional levels and lays out detailed, researched-backed policy mechanisms to ensure equal opportunity in higher education for all students.

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s efforts to undermine diverse campuses, the document represents options policymakers can and must take to build equitable pathways to higher education success. The agenda demonstrates how much can be done in spite of recent efforts by the opponents of racial progress.

The policy recommendations are organized into the following issue areas:

  • Recruitment: The Supreme Court’s decisions do not limit higher education’s ability to expand their applicant pools by actively recruiting students of color through efforts ranging from the recruitment and enrollment of community college transfer students, recruitment at Title I public high schools, and investment in programs that support first-generation students and students with lower incomes in applying for college.  
  • Admissions: Higher education institutions across the country cannot ignore how race impacts students’ lives — including their access to college. Regardless of where students lived and learned, all students deserve an equal opportunity to enroll in and graduate from higher education. Policy recommendations include better disaggregation of admissions, retention, and outcomes data in higher education, improved study of current barriers to admissions and enrollment policies, and immediate steps to reduce the harm of legacy preferences in admissions.
  • Finance: Students of color face a litany of institutional and societal barriers to accessing higher education, including the high cost of attendance. Institutions and policymakers must implement equity centered policies that can help make college affordable for all, including: more transparent information about financial aid options, increasing the value of Pell Grants, and providing for the full cost of attendance including housing and transportation. 
  • Campus Climate: Students must not only have access to the college application process and be able to afford their education — they also deserve a supportive learning environment that will enable them to thrive and complete their degrees. A deep commitment to implement and enforce federal civil rights laws is foundational to ensuring equal opportunity in higher education, including: the full funding of the U.S. Department of Education and its Office for Civil Rights (OCR), climate surveys and targeted interventions to support equitable campuses, and supporting cultural centers that serve underrepresented students.
  • Campus Support Programs: Basic needs such as childcare, transportation, housing, and food security are a matter of human rights. Policymakers at all levels should transform higher education to ensure that the basic living needs are met for every student. Policy recommendations include: the enhancement of campus services for pregnant and parenting students, free student housing at public and private institutions, and increased access to mental health care services on campus. 
  • Partnerships and P-12 Education Systems: Ensuring a strong foundation facilitates later success, and the P-12 system has a critical role to play in equitable college access and completion. Recommendations include: investments in Head Start, Early Head Start (EHS), and high-quality early care and education (ECE) programs, adequate funding for P-12 systems, and increased access to advanced programs and coursework that will prepare students for success on postsecondary campuses. 

Read the full We Shall Not Be Moved policy agenda here. To search the online database, visit WeShallNotBeMoved.org.

The Leadership Conference Education Fund builds public will for federal and state policies that promote and protect the civil and human rights of all persons in the United States. The Education Fund’s campaigns empower and mobilize advocates around the country to push for progressive change in the United States. It was founded in 1969 as the education and research arm of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. For more information on The Education Fund, visit civilrights.org/edfund/. 

###