Despite Executive Order, West Virginia University Medical School Advertises DEI Programs

In January 2025, West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrissey signed an executive order restricting DEI initiatives at state-funded entities, such as West Virginia University (WVU).

The order, among other things, prohibits state-funded entities from “grant[ing] preferential treatment based on one person’s particular race, color, sex, ethnicity, or national origin over that of another.”

In response to the executive order, WVU shuttered its DEI department, according to a response to a public records request submitted by Do No Harm. The school’s Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion was earning $239,372.00 per year, the records showed.

However, WVU’s School of Medicine still advertises a number of DEI initiatives and commitments on its website.

For instance, the WVU Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences still advertises its commitments to diversity, including language that appears to gesture at granting preferential treatment to individuals of certain backgrounds.

“Our goal is to recruit faculty and trainees of different backgrounds to better serve our patients, foster a learning environment that celebrates individuals of all backgrounds, and train culturally competent physicians who will thrive in any setting they find themselves in after graduation,” the department’s “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” webpage reads.

“We have recently initiated a program of scholarships to students at medical schools in historically black colleges and universities who choose to perform clinical or research rotations in ophthalmology at WVU,” the webpage continues; it’s not clear exactly what program the webpage refers to.

Similarly, the WVU Department of Otolaryngology mentions its efforts to increase diversity within its residency program on its “Diversity” webpage.

“We strive to recruit residents and faculty from minoritized communities who are traditionally underrepresented in medicine,” the webpage states. “We additionally greatly value individuals from all backgrounds including those from economically and educationally underserved communities.”

The page goes on to refer to the department’s “Diversity/Pipeline Programs and Partnerships.”

“Our health science center engages in ongoing and focused recruitment and retention activities to aid us in achieving diversity amongst our trainees, faculty and staff. This includes programs and/or partnerships between key Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion focused personnel, and our Otolaryngology Residency.”

WVU’s School of Public Health likewise maintains its webpage listing the “diversity initiatives,” though much of that information appears to be out-of-date. 

These initiatives include links to DEI trainings, as well as webpage titled “Racism is a Public Health Crisis.”

That webpage provides a list of organizations with whom students can “get involved,” including Color of Change, the NAACP, the Equal Justice Initiative, the Black Student Union at West Virginia University, and Call to Action for Racial Equality (CARE) West Virginia.

WVU should end all of its divisive and discriminatory programming – for good.