Press Release
Do No Harm Files Federal Civil Rights Complaint Against Geisinger College of Health Sciences
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RICHMOND, VA; June 5, 2025 – Do No Harm filed a complaint with the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) against Geisinger College of Health Sciences over its racially discriminatory summer program.
Geisinger administers the “Center of Excellence MedStart Summer Institute for Prematriculating Program,” which it describes as “[a] comprehensive 8-week summer program for accepted under-represented in medicine (URiM) students to help them transition smoothly into the rigorous demands of medical school.”
However, the program’s eligibility criteria restrict access to the program on the basis of race: “Students must be committed to Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine and identify as URiM and/or another underserved category,” the program description reads.
“Geisinger College of Health Sciences did not learn its lesson after our first federal civil rights complaint to the Office for Civil Rights,” said Do No Harm Senior Fellow Mark J. Perry. “Excluding students from medical programs because of race is blatant, unlawful discrimination. This Summer Institute is just another example of how woke identity politics have infiltrated the healthcare sector.”
As Do No Harm’s complaint notes, “the common understanding and definition of ‘Under-Represented in Medicine (URiM)’ is a category restricted to students who identify as Black, Hispanic, or Native American, but not students who are White, Asian, or Middle Eastern/North African.”
Thus, Geisinger’s program is discriminating on the basis of race in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Do No Harm requests the program either be terminated or open to all students regardless of race, color, or national origin.
“Medical programs must prioritize expertise and merit, not skin color, if they hope to effectively prepare medical students to provide high-quality care for patients,” Perry continued. “Compliance with federal civil rights laws for recipients of federal funds, like Geisinger, is not optional, and there are no ‘if you have good intentions’ exceptions to Title VI. To comply with federal civil rights laws, Geisinger should either terminate the discriminatory Program or open it to all students regardless of race, color, or national origin.”
Do No Harm, established in April 2022, has rapidly gained recognition and made significant strides in its mission to safeguard healthcare from ideological threats. With 17,000 members, including doctors, nurses, physicians, and concerned citizens across all 50 states and 14 countries, DNH has achieved over 10,000 media hits in top-tier publications and garnered widespread attention through numerous broadcast news appearances.
