How UW Does Diversity Without Affirmative Action

Reporter Andrew Engelson discusses WA's 1998 ban of the practice, and what UW has done since to increase racial equity on campus.

The U.S. Supreme Court seems poised to strike down affirmative action across the nation, but if it does, little will change in Washington state. Washington has banned the practice since 1998, the year a ballot initiative altered state law to prohibit considering race as a factor in college admissions and in other public settings. 

After the ban was passed, enrollment of students of color at the University of Washington plunged, but numbers have crept back up over the years due to efforts such as outreach to high schools with high minority populations.

Colleges and universities across the country, now facing a similar affirmative action ban, have few other models to follow as they ponder how to promote racial diversity on their campuses. So freelance journalist Andrew Engelson asked: Since 1998, has UW met its racial-diversity goals, and if so, how?

For this episode of Crosscut Reports, host Sara Bernard talks with Engelson about how the end of affirmative action affected who goes to college; what UW has done since the 1998 ban to work toward campus racial diversity; and the implications of UW’s challenges and outcomes for higher education across the country.

Read our full report on affirmative action in higher education here.

---

Credits

Host/Producer: Sara Bernard

Producer: Seth Halleran

Reporter: Andrew Engelson

Executive producer: Mark Baumgarten

---

If you would like to support Crosscut, go to crosscut.com/membership. In addition to supporting our events and our daily journalism, members receive complete access to the on-demand programming of Seattle’s PBS station, KCTS 9.