Response to Recent Supreme Court Rulings

A core element of the mission of Five Colleges, Incorporated is to support and sustain a robust academic community in the Connecticut River Valley through the programs we manage on behalf of our member campuses. 

On June 29, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decisions on two race-conscious admission programs, with implications for colleges and universities across the country. Two justices issued dissenting opinions–Justice Sonia Sotomayor in the Harvard case, and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson in the University of North Carolina case. 

On June 30, the Supreme Court issued its ruling that sided with a web designer in Colorado who refused to provide services for same-sex marriages despite a state law forbidding discrimination against LGBTQ people. 

Following these Supreme Court decisions, Five Colleges affirms our commitment to the work of building an equitable and inclusive community, and to support our member campuses in fulfilling their missions. We’re sharing links to the individual campus responses below, and will update the list as our campuses post their responses. 

• Amherst College: Remains committed to “building a student body of diverse perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences, which we believe is vital to our success as a residential living and learning community.”
• Hampshire College: "will persist in its mission to envision a more just world, and act to bring it into being."
• Mount Holyoke College: “will ensure that students of color, LGBTQ+ students, first generation students and all students historically underrepresented in higher education are welcomed and valued on our campus and in our community.”
• Smith College: “The college will continue to work to ensure that our student body remains diverse.”
• UMass Amherst: “While the Court may require us to change our methods, it cannot change our mission.”