Leaders at the UMass Medical School Notified of Federal Civil Rights Complaint Filing for a Discriminatory Pipeline Program

The chancellor the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School (UMass Chan) in Worcester and the UMass General Counsel in Amherst have been notified of a federal civil rights complaint filed against a university-sponsored pipeline program that discriminates on the basis of race.

On September 7, as a courtesy to university officials, Do No Harm senior fellow Mark Perry provided a copy of his complaint to these officials regarding the Pipeline for underrepresented Students in Medicine (PRISM) program. Sponsored by the McManus Lab at UMass Chan, this clinical research opportunity’s eligibility criteria state that participants “must be a member of historically underrepresented groups in medicine; e.g., Blacks, Mexican Americans, Native Americans (American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians), and of Hispanic origin.”

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Perry’s complaint cites Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as students who are not a member of the four groups above are being illegally excluded based on their race, color, or national origin.

Do No Harm will legally challenge and call attention to medical education programs that are engaging in illegal discrimination in violation of Title VI or Title IX, despite the prohibition of such unfairness in their non-discrimination statements. UMass is no exception to schools that endorse and publicize these statements. We encourage UMass Chan to take immediate corrective action regarding the PRISM program’s eligibility criteria, as racial exclusion and inequality are against the law and have no place in medical education.

Is your school engaging in discrimination with programs that exclude certain groups of applicants based on race or sex? Please let us know via our secure online portal.