Michigan med school ends race-based scholarship after civil rights complaint

Western Michigan University (WMU) is eliminating a scholarship previously offered on a race-restrictive basis after a civil rights complaint was made against it. 

Previously, WMU offered a scholarship entitled “Underrepresented in Medicine Visiting Elective Scholarship Program.” Do No Harm, a group “focused on keeping identity politics out of medical education, research, and clinical practice,” submitted a civil rights complaint to the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) regarding the scholarship. 

“During the investigation, the Medical School notified OCR that it discontinued the program,” the OCR said in an Aug. 19 letter obtained by National Review. “The Medical School further confirmed that it removed promotional material regarding the program from its website.”

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“OCR reviewed the Medical School’s website and did not find any information about the program that indicated it is active or that the Medical School plans to continue the program,” the letter continues. 

The scholarship’s parameters required a student to identify as “African American/Black, Hispanic/Latino, American Indian/Alaska Native, or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander.”

The scholarship also required applicants to submit a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion statement. 

WMU is not the only school to have removed a racially-based scholarship following a complaint.

“Due to the ongoing efforts of Do No Harm to challenge illegal discrimination that violates federal civil rights laws, WMU is one of more than 30 US medical schools that have either discontinued or removed race-based eligibility criteria from a discriminatory program,” Do No Harm senior fellow Mark Perry told National Review. “Medical schools are discovering that there is no legal defense for racial discrimination.”

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Other medical schools have also promoted Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion principles. 

The Duke University School of Medicine published a DEI plan in 2021 that describes concepts like “individualism” and “timeliness” as related to “white supremacy culture.”  

The Equal Protection Project (EPP) has issued roughly 30 non-discrimination complaints against universities regarding race-restrictive scholarships similar to the one recently changed by WMU. EPP’s president, William Jacobson, stated that “[a]t least half of the schools have changed their discriminatory practices in response to our complaints.”

Campus Reform has contacted Western Michigan University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.