Why Harvard Law Is Losing Black Students

哈佛法学院为何失去黑人学生

Big Take

新闻

2025-03-05

13 分钟
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The data is in: The number of Black first-year students at Harvard Law fell dramatically after the Supreme Court’s decision to ban the consideration of race in admissions. On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg higher education reporter Janet Lorin shares what she’s learned about how Harvard has changed its application process and what the institution has historically meant for generations of Black leaders. Plus, we hear from a Harvard Law student who’s involved in efforts to recruit more Black students. Read more: Harvard Law’s Fast Track to the American Elite Is Losing Black Students See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  • Bloomberg Audio Studios podcasts, radio news at the start of each academic year,

  • Harvard Law School's Black Law Students association leads a trip for new students to Martha's Vineyard.

  • It's a chance for them to get to know each other,

  • to meet older black students, to become a part of a community.

  • And this year,

  • some of the second and third year students noticed there were fewer black first year law students.

  • Janet Lauren covers higher education for Bloomberg News.

  • So after that trip in September, they got together and said, we need to do something about this.

  • The members of hbolsa, as the group is known,

  • they're trying to take matters into their own hands

  • because this is the first class admitted after the Supreme Court banned the use of race in admissions.

  • And there's already been a notable impact.

  • And for a school like Harvard,

  • with such a vast alumni network and a history of churning out leaders in business and politics,

  • that impact could eventually mean fewer opportunities for black Americans to get ahead.

  • I'm David Gura and this is the big take from Bloomberg News today on the show,

  • the decline in black student enrollment at Harvard Law School,

  • what it means for students and the school and the downstream impacts this could have on the next generation of black professionals in law,

  • politics, business and more.

  • Law is a field where for better or worse, connections and credentials matter.