East Carolina University Brody School of Medicine DICE Inventory Score: 70.6%

Just how woke is North Carolina’s ECU Brody School of Medicine? Their score on the AAMC’s Diversity, Inclusion, Culture, and Equity (DICE) Inventory speaks for itself.

Here’s the background. In October 2022, the Association of American Medical Colleges released a report showing that the vast majority of medical schools have embraced identity politics, despite their divisive and even discriminatory nature. The report was based on surveys of specific medical schools, which the AAMC didn’t name.

For the sake of transparency and accountability, Do No Harm submitted freedom of information requests to public medical schools nationwide, including East Carolina University. We asked for a copy of its survey response, so that North Carolina taxpayers and policymakers could learn the truth about this institution.

Here’s what the ECU Brody School of Medicine has self-reported:

• It has adopted racially discriminatory admissions practices under the guise of “affirmative action.” This means it’s potentially lowering standards in the name of diversity, thereby threatening patient health.  

• It has a “dedicated office, staff, or resources” dedicated to DEI. In fact, it reports two such offices: The Office of Diversity Affairs and Office of Faculty Affairs and Leadership Development. This means there’s a permanent woke bureaucracy pushing ideology on faculty and students. 

• It lobbies for woke policies at the federal, state, and/or local levels. This means it’s wading into toxic public debates instead of fully focusing on educating future physicians. 

• It offers tenure and promotion to faculty who prove their commitment to extreme identity politics and woke priorities. This is a litmus test that requires faculty to toe the party line instead of teaching medicine at the highest level. ECU reported that new promotion and tenure policies are under development.

• Its administrators are active within local, regional, and national forums to promote equity, diversity, and inclusion. This means it’s wasting resources that would be better spent on real medical education.  

In response to question 83 on the DICE Inventory (Does the institution/school provide scholarships for students from diverse backgrounds?), ECU responded “no” and added the comment “Prohibited for targeting diverse candidates over others.” However, the Office of Diversity Affairs clearly promotes Scholarships for Underrepresented Minorities in Medicine (URMM) Students.

All told, ECU Brody School of Medicine has instituted 70.6% of the divisive and discriminatory woke policies listed by the AAMC. With a score in AAMC’s yellow zone, you can bet it is feeling pressure from activists and outside groups to go even further down the radical rabbit hole – doing even more damage to faculty, medical students, and ultimately, the millions of patients they’ll see.

North Carolina taxpayers help fund East Carolina University. They, and the policymakers who represent them, should ask why they’re giving so much money to an institution that’s putting divisive and discriminatory ideology at the heart of medical education. More importantly, they should ensure the ECU Brody School of Medicine stops, and soon.