The release of the online Common Application on Tuesday for the 2023-24 cycle gave U-Va. and other schools a chance to unveil new questions for applicants in a changed recruiting and admissions landscape.
U-Va. President James E. Ryan and Provost Ian Baucom said the university would abide by the court ruling. “We also will do everything within our legal authority to recruit and admit a class of students who are diverse across every possible dimension and to make every student feel welcome and included here at UVA,” they wrote in aOne question U-Va.
Another question is new and optional: “If you have a personal or historic connection with UVA, and if you’d like to share how your experience of this connection has prepared you to contribute to the University, please share your thoughts here. Such relationships might include, but are not limited to, being a child of someone who graduated from or works for UVA, a descendant of ancestors who labored at UVA, or a participant in UVA programs.
Explaining why that question was added, Ryan and Baucom wrote: “We hope this prompt will give all students — not only, for example, the children of our graduates, but also the descendants of ancestors who labored at the University, as well as those with other relationships — the chance to tell their unique stories.
Before and after the Supreme Court ruling, several colleges and universities have said they will no longer take legacy status into account. Among the latest to make such changes are Occidental College,