June 29, 2023 - Campus Statement Regarding Affirmative Action
Dear NHCC Community Members,
Today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn affirmative action in college admissions may have caused some of you a measure of anxiety regarding its potential impact on NHCC. As a public, urban, comprehensive community college, we are committed to being a welcoming and inclusive college striving to create an anti-racist learning environment for our students.
The colleges and universities of Minnesota State are open-access institutions and do not use race among our criteria for admission, so the court’s ruling on Affirmative Action has no bearing on NHCC’s admissions process. As one of the most diverse colleges in the state, we remain firm in our position as a strong educational partner for the Twin Cities communities of color, first-generation families, and other contemporary learners across the socio-economic spectrum seeking the social mobility an NHCC education can provide. We stand with our other Minnesota State institutions in our commitment to the Equity 2030 goal of eliminating educational equity gaps to empower our students’ individual aspirations and the community flourishing that each of them can foster.
In affirming NHCC’s commitment to equitable and inclusive higher education, I echo the words of Minnesota’s Higher Education Commissioner Dennis Olson in saying that today’s ruling “does not change Minnesota’s commitment to serving all students. We know representation matters. Inclusivity matters.”
Sincerely,
Dr. Rolando García
North Hennepin Community College President