BALTIMORE ÷ A recent article in the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education stated that this year's undergraduate freshman class at Johns Hopkins University showed an 82.9 percent increase in the number of African-American enrollees as compared to last year. The report said "Johns Hopkins · [a school] with a heavy concentration in the sciences, posted impressive gains in black first-year enrollments · The number of blacks in the first-year class rose from 35 in 2001 to 64 this year. Blacks make up 5.7 percent of all freshmen · this year compared to 3.5 percent last year."

When asked to comment about the recent increase in black enrollees at Hopkins, Jerry Schnydman, executive assistant to the University's president, said, "We had been disappointed in the last couple of years with the downward trend for underrepresented minorities, so we were hopeful that that trend could change. We are happy that the trend has changed."

Dean of Student Life Susan Boswell said, "There were real efforts made to increase enrollments. The University is committed to attracting a diverse population. I know admissions employed a broad range of strategies. They did a lot of things to increase the number of students who choose to come."

According to Boswell, the Office of Admissions used many strategies to encourage black applicants.