Medical School Ditches Discriminatory Scholarship Program After Do No Harm Complaint

The Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine (WMU) discontinued a scholarship program that racially discriminated against student applicants following a federal civil rights complaint from Do No Harm.

WMU maintained a scholarship program called the Underrepresented in Medicine Visiting Elective Scholarship Program designed to provide fourth-year medical students with financial support, mentorship, and networking opportunities. The scholarship was operated in collaboration with the Office of Resident Affairs and Office of Diversity, and was intended to help achieve diversity in the medical field.

However, the scholarship’s eligibility criteria stated that applicants “must” identify as “African American/Black, Hispanic/Latino, American Indian/Alaska Native, or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander.”

Notably absent from this list were white and Asian students; because of their race, they were denied these opportunities.

Do No Harm Senior Fellow Mark J. Perry filed a civil rights complaint against WMU with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), alleging the eligibility criteria were racially discriminatory and violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The OCR confirmed in December 2023 that it had opened a federal investigation into WMU over the complaint.

Then, on Monday, August 19, the OCR notified Do No Harm that WMU had discontinued the Underrepresented in Medicine Visiting Elective Scholarship Program. The school’s website no longer advertises the program, and the OCR said it found no evidence the program was still operational.

While it is disappointing that WMU ceased its racial discrimination only after a federal investigation had commenced, Do No Harm nevertheless applauds this outcome. Racial discrimination has no place in medical schools or anywhere else, and WMU students are better off without their university denying them scholarship opportunities and discriminating against them based on their race. Any medical school student who is aware of financial aid or other programs at his or her school that are restricted based on race can file an anonymous tip here.

“WMU is one of dozens of U.S. medical schools that have either discontinued or removed race-based eligibility criteria from a discriminatory program as a result of our ongoing efforts to challenge illegal discrimination that violates Title VI,” Perry said. “Medical schools are finding out that there is no legal defense for racial discrimination and once our complaints are opened for federal civil rights investigations, the OCR has consistently ruled in our favor and forced schools to stop discriminating. U.S. medical schools should be on notice that they have a legal obligation to enforce federal civil rights laws, and it is Do No Harm’s mission to successfully challenge all illegal discrimination until each of the 200 US medical schools is free from discrimination based on race or sex.”

Read the story in National Review.