PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Brown University is launching a set of admission recruitment initiatives focused on ensuring that diverse students from all backgrounds, their families and those who support them are excited to choose Brown for their academic journey.

University Provost Francis J. Doyle III and Interim Vice President for Institutional Equity and Diversity Patricia Poitevien detailed the initiatives in a Wednesday, Dec. 4, message to the Brown community.

“In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that greatly limited any consideration of race in admission decisions, Brown remains committed to complying with the law while fostering a diverse and inclusive community as integral to our mission of academic excellence,” they wrote. “With a focus on recruitment, matriculation and retention of a diverse community of students, the University has developed a set of concrete actions focused on ensuring a robust pool of highly qualified diverse students apply to Brown and, once admitted, have access to the resources they need to enroll.”

According to Doyle and Poitevien, immediate strategies will include:

• enhancing funding for matching financial aid awards to all students admitted to Brown from institutions making competitive offers;
• increasing participation in Brown’s matching program with QuestBridge, a national nonprofit that works to equalize access to top colleges and universities for talented high school students from low-income families;
• creating five new regionally based admissions positions focused on local recruiting across the country working with high schools and community-based organizations (CBOs);
• creating new targeted communications campaigns for prospective students, their families and high school counselors as part of efforts to build education around accessibility, campus support and resources for career exploration;
• offering new admissions programming for guidance counselors, including those who work at CBOs, to build understanding of Brown’s commitment to a diverse and thriving student body, as well as the University’s individualized admissions process that considers the experiences and context of every applicant;
• activating the Brown alumni network to support recruitment and matriculation efforts, building a pool of 750+ alumni for this effort;
• creating a new alumni relations position to work with alumni volunteers to greatly increase capacity to engage with prospective students from underrepresented communities;
• expanding partnerships with alumni affinity groups that cultivate relationships and support recruitment efforts among diverse communities;
• and expanding Brown’s existing travel grant program for prospective and admitted low-income students to enable travel to campus.

These efforts are being propelled by strong coordination across multiple University offices, they noted, and Brown’s Division of Advancement will play a key role in raising funds to support the new initiatives.

As the University builds support from donors, its goals include sustaining the pipeline of applicants to Brown from historically underrepresented student populations; increasing awareness of Brown’s holistic, individualized, mission-driven admissions process among students, families and guidance counselors; and increasing Brown’s yield of admitted students from a diverse range of backgrounds.

“We are committed to ensuring that prospective students and their families, as well as those who support them, feel confident in Brown’s commitment to providing a diverse and inclusive environment that is welcoming to students from all backgrounds,” Doyle and Poitevien wrote.

University leaders noted that the new initiatives will serve as the foundation of a years-long effort as Brown and other institutions continue to contend with an evolving admissions environment nationwide. The University plans to evaluate the strategies on an annual basis to determine how recruitment, selection and yield efforts succeed in continuing to enroll talented students who contribute to Brown's academic mission.