The American Society of Hematology Rebrands Its Racist Scholarship Program

The American Society of Hematology (ASH) may be learning its lesson. 

ASH previously operated the Minority Recruitment Initiative (MRI), a program designed to “increase the participation of those underserved and underrepresented” in hematology. The initiative included scholarships like the Minority Medical Student Award Program (MMSAP) that were restricted to “Indigenous American Indians or Alaska Natives, Blacks or African Americans, Hispanics or Latinos, Native Hawaiians or other Pacific Islanders, African Canadians, Inuit, and First Nation Peoples.”

Now, ASH has rebranded the program and removed eligibility criteria that specifically restrict  the racial groups that are eligible to receive the awards. The “successor” program to MRI, the Hematology Inclusion Pathway (HIP) Initiative, likewise promotes awards and scholarships available to medical students, residents, and faculty.

ASH’s timing is curious, to say the least. In December 2023, Do No Harm filed a joint federal civil rights complaint against 20 medical schools that illegally promoted the discriminatory award, and following our complaint, many of the schools agreed to delete the award from their websites to resolve their violations of federal civil rights laws

For instance, Michigan State University (MSU) medical school promoted ASH’s MMSAP on its website. The university delisted the program earlier this year following Do No Harm’s federal civil rights complaint. Several other medical schools including those at the University of Chicago and the University of Cincinnati also agreed to stop promoting and advertising the discriminatory ASH programs on their websites.  

Perhaps ASH has decided that promoting explicit unlawful racial discrimination is not in the best interests of a medical association.

Still, it’s clear that ASH views the program as a vehicle to advance its DEI agenda, and may evaluate applicants accordingly. The organization is promoting a HIP luncheon where previous award recipients and DEI officials can “network” with one another.

Here’s how ASH describes HIP:

“[T]he new HIP Initiative better aligns with ASH’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion and reflects an evolving understanding of the communities that are underrepresented in hematology.”

Moreover, one of the initiative’s scholarships “encourages graduate students from communities underrepresented in hematology in the United States and Canada to pursue a career in academic hematology.” ASH also recommended embedding DEI in the clinical trial process, a sign that its commitment to radical ideology is not abating.

Nevertheless, a retreat from explicit racial discrimination is an encouraging sign: the days in which medical associations could broadcast and promote their racism without being held accountable are over.

ASH must know by now that any form of racial discrimination, regardless of whether it is undertaken in the name of “equity” or other ideological goals, is unlawful and morally unacceptable. Medical schools and medical organizations have to realize that there are no “if you have good intentions” exceptions to federal civil rights laws, and discrimination based on race or sex is still unlawful even if it advantages the “right” groups for the “right” ideological reasons.

Do No Harm encourages those who become aware of race-based or sex-based discrimination to submit your concern to our website.