Charleston Reverses Itself on Affirmative Action

Two days after The Post and Courier revealed that the College of Charleston had stopped considering race in admissions, without telling anyone, in 2016, the college reversed course. Stephen C. Osborne, the interim president, released a statement Tuesday in which he said that there "was no secretive effort to change the college’s policies by past administrations." But his statement also confirmed the report saying the college changed its policy in 2016. Prior to that time, the college conducted an additional review of minority applicants who were not recommended for admission, and that policy was stopped. Based on discussions this week, Osborne wrote, he has asked admissions officials to resume that review "and to make it abundantly clear that, as an institution, we do and will consider race as a factor in our holistic review process."