Audit Reveals How Wisconsin State Gov, University System is Injecting DEI Into Medicine

This month, the Wisconsin Legislative Audit Bureau released two reports detailing the extent of the state government and university system’s engagement in DEI initiatives. 

The audits cataloged the various DEI initiatives of state agencies and the University of Wisconsin system, and revealed how these institutions have promoted DEI or engaged in activities that appear to be potentially discriminatory.

The audit focusing on 24 of the Wisconsin state government’s agencies found that the state’s Department of Health Services (DHS) had listed 51 total actions related to advancing DEI in its Equity and Inclusion “action plans” since 2021.

These plans included recruiting and retention efforts aimed at increasing diversity, such as through expanding “recruitment resources by targeting marginalized college students and individuals from diverse backgrounds” and featuring “diversity-driven content on job postings.”

Moreover, as part of the action plans, DHS would “develop an internship program for individuals of diverse backgrounds,” “establish a mentorship/leadership program for staff who identify as marginalized individuals,” and “identify or develop unconscious bias training for leadership positions.”

Additionally, DHS created an Office of Health Equity to support these initiatives.

“The Office of Health Equity in the Department of Health Services supports diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and health equity efforts,” the audit reads. “This Office had eight permanent positions that we included in our analysis.”

The audit of the University of Wisconsin system, meanwhile, found that the state’s publicly-funded educational institutions are promoting and engaging in DEI activity. The bulk of these initiatives were operated through the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison) campus.

These include anti-racism initiatives, something called the “Trans Counseling Advocacy Research and Education Collaborative,” and hiring policies aimed at increasing diversity.

Several other initiatives, however, are considerably more incendiary.

For instance, the UW-Madison Student National Medical Association chapter created a local White Coats for Black Lives chapter, which the audit says “aims to eliminate racial bias in the practice of medicine.”

White Coats for Black Lives is a medical student organization that as Do No Harm previously reported defended individuals who praised the October 7th terrorist attacks on Israel.

Additionally, the UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health launched the “Building Equitable Access to Mentorship initiative” that “matches faculty and first-year incoming medical students from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds.”

The Building Equitable Access to Mentorship or BEAM program appears to be explicitly discriminatory as it only mentions opportunities for individuals deemed to be members of “underrepresented” racial groups. Selected scholars even receive a stipend through the program.

And lastly, the UW School of Medicine and Public Health department chairs are subjected to an “anti-racism” curriculum.

The results of this audit confirm an uncomfortable and disturbing truth: all too often, state governments and publicly-funded institutions are the ones responsible for injecting DEI into healthcare and medical education.

Simply put, taxpayers should not be on the hook for these divisive and discriminatory programs.