Professor Julie J. Park unpacks the evolving landscape of U.S. college admissions in her new book “Race, Class, and Affirmative Action” (Harvard Education Press, 2026). In an interview with Inside Higher Ed, Park explains how the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard reshaped practices around race-conscious admissions. She challenges persistent myths about fairness and explores how privilege and bias can manifest in admissions systems that often seem unclear to families and applicants. She also issues a thoughtful call for colleges to lead boldly in ways that uphold diversity and opportunity, even as legal and political pressures mount.
“I do think [about] how to parse out the authentic student—I don’t know. And I raised this issue at the beginning and the end of the book: [There is] another big concern of what admissions has become in terms of performativity,” Park said. “It’s demanding on young people and just that stress and pressure to package yourself. I don’t think it’s healthy. I think it’d be a brave college to really reverse course.”
.
