Black Lives at Mudd Demand Concessions from Harvey Mudd Administration

Harvey Mudd College. (Photo credit: CampusGrotto)

On April 29, Black Lives at Mudd (BLAM) emailed a resolution to the Harvey Mudd (HMC) community “demand[ing] that the institution be held responsible for the harm caused to the Black student body of Harvey Mudd College.” 

The email, cosigned by the Associated Students of Harvey Mudd College (ASHMC) — Mudd’s student government — and other affinity groups was sent to the entire student body and Division of Student Affairs staff. BLAM listed a number of grievances and made six demands of college leadership and faculty, which included making “one use of a racial slur” grounds for probation.

The email begins by pointing out the decreased number of black students at HMC since the Supreme Court overturned affirmative action in college admissions. BLAM alleged that because the black population at Mudd has shrunk, “black students who remain face increasing vulnerability, urgently needing even more protection.” 

The black population at Mudd has fallen since 2022, when there were 54 black students enrolled (representing just under 6% of the total student body). In 2025, meanwhile, there were 32 enrolled black students, representing 3.5% of the total student body, the lowest rate since 2018. The number of students’ races marked as “unknown” increased from 45 to 60 during this time period.

BLAM also criticized HMC’s bias incident reporting policy and the administration’s handling of alleged racist incidents. The email says that “when students experience racism from a dorm-mate, the victim is expected to move out…isolating the victim from their direct community,” and “a microaggression and calling someone a slur are treated as equal” by the bias reporting policy, which “dilutes the capacity to respond to flagrant acts of racism.” BLAM further condemned the “ignorance,” “silence,” “apathy,” and “neutrality” from HMC administration, citing examples from past and current presidents and deans. This included reference to then-president Maria Klawe's response to the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement, which BLAM and other groups considered inadequate and a “minimization” of the movement.

The email ends with six demands of HMC administration. This includes a formal condemnation of on-campus racism from HMC President Harriet Nembhard (herself a black woman) signed by all faculty members; the introduction of critical race theory into HMC humanities courses and the hiring of an Africana studies professor; and greater funds for black organizations on campus (i.e. BLAM and National Society of Black Engineers), as well as mandatory minimum funding for other affinity groups.

Further, BLAM proposed yearly diversity training for “Professors, Deans, Coaches” and other faculty, as well as diversity training during orientation for “student leaders,” including “Resident Life Proctors and Mentors, ASHMC Leadership, Club Presidents, Athletic teams, and all other student leaders.” It is unclear if this would be implemented with non-Mudd athletes given the consortial makeup of the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps athletics program. 

BLAM also called for HMC to amend the Bias Incident Reporting policies so that racial bias incidents automatically place the student on Probation levels. BLAM urged for “one use of a racial slur” to place a student on Probation I, an additional racial-bias incident to lead to Probation II, and a third to result in suspension. Under Harvey Mudd's Honor Code, Probation Level I represents a Code violation of a “serious nature,” without formal consequence except for it being “stressed to a student that this is a time for contemplation about what they have done and what it means to live and abide by the Honor Code.” Probation II “is the highest sanction a student may be issued and still actively attend the College,” with consequences including the loss of “the privilege of membership in campus clubs or organizations, the ability to study abroad, the ability to hold a campus leadership position or the ability to participate in intercollegiate athletics.”

Currently, under the Bias Incident Reporting policy, “a bias-related incident,” including the use of a slur, “may not be a crime and may be protected speech,” and incidents are evaluated on a case-by-case basis. 

When asked for comment, a representative of HMC directed the Independent to a message from the president that was sent the day after the original BLAM email. In the message, President Nembhard reiterated that “racism and discriminatory behavior have no place at Harvey Mudd College; they are antithetical to the shared values our community identified through our strategic planning process.” Acknowledging the list of demands from BLAM, she stated that she could not “provide an immediate answer to all of the points raised in the resolution,” but assured that she is “engaging with the Cabinet, faculty, and the board to evaluate these requests and determine appropriate steps to address the concerns that were shared.” 

The email comes after a number of alleged incidents of racism at the Claremont Colleges. Nearly a month ago, hundreds of Claremont students attended a town hall hosted by Pomona College’s Black Student Union, who similarly accused Pomona’s administration of failure to address campus racism and laid out reform demands. Only weeks before the town hall, the ASHMC president-elect was recalled in a student referendum after past controversial remarks resurfaced and she was accused of racism and transphobia by her opponent. The email also refers to other unspecified racist incidents on HMC campus, alleging that faculty have reported “many more Black students coming to them with incidents of racism.”

BLAM did not respond to a request for comment.