Hunter Students Lament School's Growing 'Diversity Crisis'

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Students, parents and alumni demonstrated outside one of the city's most prominent public high schools on Friday, calling on administrators to resolve what they called a "diversity crisis" that has grown more acute in recent years.

The group argues that Black, Latino and low-income students are drastically underrepresented at Hunter College High School, among the most selective and prestigious in New York.

Despite the skewed demographics, Hunter, which is run by CUNY, has arguably escaped the harsh scrutiny applied to other specialized high schools like Stuyvesant and Bronx Science, where a high-profile diversity debate has played out.

Out of nearly 1,300 students enrolled at Hunter last year in grades 7 through 12, only about 6.2 percent were Latino and 2.3 percent were Black, records show. About 8.2 percent were eligible for free or reduced-price school meals. (Citywide, New York's public school students were about two-thirds Black and Latino during the 2018-19 school year, while about three quarters were from low-income households.)

It wasn't always this way — in 1995, Hunter's incoming seventh-grade class was 12 percent Black and six percent Latino, the New York Times reported in 2010.

Senior Isaiah Register said the lack of diversity has tainted his academic experience, as one of just six Black-identifying students in a grade of more than 200.

"It kind of just seeps into everything," he said at Friday's protest, which took place outside Hunter's campus on East 69th Street and Lexington Avenue. "I do feel somewhat pressured to share my experience, because I feel like people need to hear it. It can get uncomfortable."

He is among the students calling for the school to reform its admission practices, under the banner Hunter College High School For Diversity. Working with parents and alumni, and following consultations with experts in school integration, the group is pushing Hunter's president, Jennifer Raab, to rewrite the school's entrance exam and expand its criteria for admission. They argue the changes would expand access to students unable to afford test preparation classes.

The coronavirus pandemic has created an opportunity for change, they say: institutions like CUNY and Hunter College have suspended standardized test requirements for the incoming class of students, and the high school could do the same.

The effort has won support from more than 1,200 alumni who signed onto students' "Call for Diversity" in June, as well as Chris Hayes, the MSNBC host and 1997 Hunter graduate.

So proud of @hchs4diversity, the students at my alma mater organizing around the diversity crisis at Hunter College High School. It is *extremely* disappointing that @HunterPresident won't even meet with them about their urgent concerns.
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) September 16, 2020

"It was the choices this administration made"

Despite months of appeals, students say they have received minimal response from administrators, including Raab, who has not agreed to meet with them.

"She's been here for 20 years and diversity has only gotten worse under her," senior Chloë Rollock said of Raab, who has led the institution since 2001.

Deepak Bhargava, a 1986 Hunter graduate, said Friday he was dismayed that the school's demographics had grown more skewed in the years since he left.

"The decline of the diversity of the student body ... was not inevitable," said Bhargava, now a professor at CUNY. "It was the choices this administration made about how they were going to pursue admissions."

In a statement, Hunter College Campus Schools Director Lisa Siegmann said the institution was "committed to inclusion and diversity," and has supported initiatives to improve access to its entrance exam.

"A task force has already been established to examine and respond to racial equity issues at both the College and the Hunter College Campus Schools. Among the topics being reviewed at the Campus Schools include admissions for both elementary and high school, curriculum and campus climate," Siegmann said.

"We have a deep commitment working with the students, parents and staff, who have already been involved in discussions and will continue to meet as the school year gets underway."

Friday's demonstration was the second in three days that targeted Hunter's administrators: on Wednesday, teachers blasted the high school's reopening plan, which they said lacks the coronavirus protections in place at other city public schools.