No Recovery in Black Enrollments at Virginia Tech

In 2002 there were 346 black first-year students at Virginia Tech. In 2003 there were 309 black freshmen. Then, in 2004, the governing board of the university decided to end race-sensitive admissions at the state-operated university. After a public furor, the trustees decided to once again consider race as a positive factor in the admissions process.

But the damage had been done. Many prospective black students felt that the welcome mat had been pulled away at Virginia Tech. As a result, in 2004 there were only 173 black freshmen at the university, exactly half the number from two years before. In both 2005 and this fall there were less than 200 black freshmen who matriculated at Virginia Tech.