217 Today: Freshman demographics at Northwestern and U of I show little change following ban on race-conscious admissions

Students stand for the national anthem at the commencement ceremony at Ryan Field Stadium at Northwestern University in 2023. Data from Northwestern shows little demographic change in the first freshman class admitted after the Supreme Court banned the use of race in admission decisions.

Friday, October 18, 2024

Today’s headlines:

  • Local band Captain Rat and the Blind Rivets has been playing gigs for over forty years. But when founding member and local legend Mark Rubel died in April, the band faced questions about its future.
  • The Champaign County Audit is past due, and some are worried about critical programs losing funding.
  • A new report analyzes immigrant communities and their contributions to the economy in Illinois and the Great Lakes region.
  • Time is almost up for Illinois residents to submit a design for a new state flag.
  • New laws in Illinois aim to turn around a deadly health statistic in Illinois.

In today’s deep dive, we’ll learn how the ban on race-conscious admissions has impacted college demographics.

217 Today is produced by Stephanie Mosqueda. Reporting today contributed by Brendan Gallian, Nathan Gonzalez, Esther Yoon-Ji Kang, Mawa Iqbal, Kennedy Vincent and Lisa Kurian Philip. 

 

Stephanie Mosqueda

Stephanie Mosqueda is a senior majoring in journalism at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with minors in Spanish and public relations. She is the 217 Today producer and a reporter for the Illinois Student Newsroom.