Commentary

Do No Harm Obtains Its 35th Federal Civil Rights Investigation as Case is Opened Against Wayne State University Scholarship Program

  • By Do No Harm Staff
  • September 13, 2023
  • Wayne State University School of Medicine

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has opened a federal civil rights investigation against Wayne State University for a scholarship that illegally discriminates on the basis of both race and sex. This marks the 35th instance to date that a civil rights complaint filed by Do No Harm has resulted in a federal investigation.

The Detroit-Regional Elective Scholarship for Underrepresented Students (D-RESUS) at Detroit Receiving Hospital provides illegal preferences for students based on their race, color, or national origin and gender identity or sexual orientation. The D-RESUS award includes financial assistance for senior medical students – but only if they are “members of minority groups.” Specifically, applicants must self-identify as being “Black, Latino, Native American, Pacific Islander” or “gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender.”

Figure 1. D-RESUS scholarship eligibility at Wayne State University.

The scholarship application confirms the intent to collect information on gender, race, and ethnicity.

Figure 2. D-RESUS scholarship application at Wayne State University.

Wayne State University School of Medicine is engaging in illegal discrimination in violation of Title VI and Title IX by operating a scholarship program that illegally excludes medical students based on their sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, or national origin. Do No Harm expects that the OCR investigation into the D-RESUS program will result in the Department of Emergency Medicine being forced to make its scholarship available to all eligible applicants in alignment with federal civil rights laws.