Stanford University is facing an embarrassing situation after it was noticed that the school had digitally altered a student photo, swapping out the race and gender of a student. The university and the real-life student have both responded to the incident, which has also served to highlight the demographic changes that have occurred on campus.
Stanford student reacts to being replaced in student photo
The Stanford Review, one of the university’s on-campus publications, first reported that a photograph taken by Stanford Residential & Dining Enterprises had digitally altered a student photo, replacing a male Latino student with an AI-generated image of a Black woman. The student who was erased, Billy Ramirez, told the Review that he remembered having his photo taken on campus and was “baffled” when a friend sent him the image and he was no longer in it. “At first, I found it hilarious that they had used AI to completely change our appearances, including my race and gender,” Ramirez said. “But after looking at the comparison, I was also upset because I don’t agree with Stanford making those choices about how we were represented. Seeing my identity changed and being left out of the picture made me feel, in a way, silenced and erased from a representation that was supposed to include me.” The Review also noted that the two other students in the photo were altered to appear thinner.
Stanford just used AI to race swap a student for their advertisements. https://t.co/xXjixdIyjU
— The Stanford Review (@StanfordReview) September 21, 2026
Stanford admits it broke its own policies with photo alteration
Stanford University has issued a response to the controversy surrounding the photo, taking responsibility for breaking its own rules regarding artificial intelligence. “We have reviewed the matter and confirmed that AI was used to alter the image in violation of university policy,” a spokesperson said in an email sent to Fox News Digital. “Stanford’s AI policy is clear: The use of AI in producing or altering images of Stanford people, events, research, facilities, or achievements is strictly prohibited. Both the alteration and lack of disclosure in this case violate that policy.” The university representative said that Stanford was “working with Residential and Dining Enterprises to provide additional training and ensure proper review of all materials.”
Story goes viral; provides striking comparison to actual student body
The university’s reaction to the photo has not curtailed public attention. After Ramirez posted the altered picture on social media, it went viral, quickly spreading across apps including Fizz and X. The Stanford Review post on X amassed 14 million views as of Wednesday afternoon. While the altered photo has created embarrassment for Stanford, the idea of the university digitally creating a Black woman to portray as a student has been particularly jarring given the school’s demographic makeup. Black enrollment at Stanford dropped from 8.6% of the student body for the class of 2027, of which Ramirez is a member, to only 4.5% the following year; the change came after the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action for college admissions. Latino or Hispanic enrollment dropped from 16.7% to 14.6% during the same time period, while Asian enrollment rose from 28.8% to 33%, and white enrollment rose from 21.9% to 24.1% of the student makeup.
Given these real-life changes in the university’s racial makeup, the university’s erasure of a real Latino student and its creation of a digital Black student seems particularly ill-advised. Stanford has declared that it is reviewing its procedures in light of this embarrassing moment.