Top DC chemistry group replaces race-excluding scholarship after lawsuit

The American Chemical Society has agreed to replace its racially exclusive ACS Scholars Program following a legal challenge that accused the country’s largest chemistry network of violating federal civil rights laws by excluding white and Asian applicants.

The Washington Examiner first reported in March that the nonprofit organization Do No Harm filed a lawsuit on behalf of a high-achieving high school senior, identified as “Member A,” who was barred from applying solely because of her race. Despite a 4.34 GPA, a perfect ACT science score, and top AP Chemistry exam results, the student was ineligible under the program’s criteria, which reserved eligibility for Black, Hispanic, and Native American applicants.

“We are pleased that the American Chemical Society will stop discriminating based on race in its scholarships,” said Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, chairman of DNH, in a statement. “Allowing identity politics to interfere with merit in medical education is not only a disservice to these future medical professionals, but also the patients they will serve.”

Do No Harm contended the original scholarship initiative amounted to illegal “racial gatekeeping,” citing the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which struck down race-based college admissions.

Goldfarb emphasized that the resolution sends “a clear message” that racial bias has no place in medicine or education.

Read more on the Washington Examiner.