At a Lunar New Year event in early 2024, Stanford University captured a photograph of senior Billy Ramirez, a Hispanic student majoring in human biology, alongside two other students. The image, originally featured by the university’s dining services online, was later altered by Stanford for display on promotional banners. In the modified version, Ramirez was replaced by a Black woman, and the other students’ appearances were changed to appear thinner.
Ramirez expressed his frustration with the alteration, describing the experience as upsetting. “To see me erased like that so easily was kind of very upsetting,” he said in an interview. Despite recognizing a “comedic element” to the situation, he noted the university had not communicated with him prior to or following the image’s alteration.
Stanford issued a statement acknowledging the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to modify the original photo, confirming that this action violated the university’s AI policy. The policy prohibits using AI to produce or alter images of Stanford people, events, research, facilities, or achievements without disclosure. The university indicated it was collaborating with Residential and Dining Enterprises to provide additional training and improve oversight of marketing materials. Following the disclosure, Stanford announced it would remove the altered banners.
The incident highlights ongoing challenges related to AI misuse in academic settings and the complex pressures universities face in representing campus diversity. It also follows a broader context in which colleges are scrutinized for admissions and diversity policies, with recent inquiries by federal agencies into Stanford’s medical school admissions practices and teacher training programs over potential race-based considerations.
Alterations of marketing imagery to emphasize diversity are not uncommon in higher education. In 2000, the University of Wisconsin-Madison faced criticism after digitally inserting a Black student into a previously all-white image on an undergraduate application booklet. Similarly, York College of Pennsylvania came under fire nearly two decades later for replacing white students with a man of Asian descent and a woman wearing a head covering on a billboard image. Both institutions acknowledged the missteps and adjusted their materials accordingly.
Research suggests that while overt digital manipulation of images is relatively rare, universities often curate or stage photographs to present a more diverse campus than enrollment figures may indicate. A 2013 study in the Journal of Marketing for Higher Education found that recruitment materials tend to overrepresent white and Asian students while underrepresenting Hispanic students in particular. The study’s authors argued that presenting an image of racial diversity has become a marketing strategy in higher education, sometimes prioritized over accurately reflecting student demographics.
Stanford’s enrollment data from the previous fall included 17,314 students, with 3,406 classified as underrepresented minorities who are American citizens or permanent residents. An additional 4,431 were international students. Ramirez questioned whether the altered image was a truthful representation of Stanford’s diversity.
The two other students appearing in the original photo—a man Ramirez identified as also Hispanic and an Asian woman—did not respond to requests for comment at the time of reporting.