Following a federal investigation announcement, an elite medical school is quietly altering its online materials.
On March 25, the Department of Justice commenced an investigation into potentially discriminatory admissions practices at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The government seeks applicant-level information (like MCAT scores and GPAs) as well as internal messages about DEI, according to reporting by The New York Times.
Recent alterations to the Stanford Medicine website, such as office name and title changes, suggest that the institution may be attempting to scrub any evidence of its commitment to DEI.
For example, among Stanford Medicine’s administrative units is the Office of Community Health and Engagement (OCHE). As an archived history of the office’s website makes clear, the OCHE was, until at least March 30, the Office of Diversity in Medical Education, “committed to eliminating the nation’s health inequities through patient care, education, research, and advocacy.”
This change appears to be largely cosmetic, as OCHE’s team remains mostly in place.
Felipe D. Perez, previously assistant dean for diversity in medical student education, is now assistant dean for community health and engagement.
Sara Clemente, until recently diversity program manager, is now graduate medical education program manager.
Marisa Madrigal, previously diversity coordinator, has been rebranded as graduate medical education coordinator.
The question is whether new business cards signal an end to DEI operations at the medical school. The available evidence suggests that they don’t.
Later this spring, Stanford Medicine will host as planned the 9th Annual Diversity and Inclusion Forum, designed to help participants become “effective agent[s] for change in diversity, equity, and inclusion in medical education.”
Stanford Medicine’s library proudly displays on its website its voluminous “Multicultural Health” resources, which include extensive material on “cultural competency,” “indigenous health,” “Hispanic/Latine health,” “medical racism & antiracism,” and other preoccupations of the DEI movement.
Although the institution has taken down a website declaring its leadership-development apparatus to be a fit for those interested in “activism and advocacy,” “local health equity initiatives,” and “social determinants of health,” the initiative itself remains active.
Indeed, it is difficult to find any evidence that Stanford Medicine is backing away from its DEI-obsessed activities.
If the institution wishes to recommit to merit-based instruction for all medical students, it will need to make more than cosmetic changes.
