School is pursuing a ‘diversity agenda’ over ‘medical education based on merit and academic excellence,’ according to professor who filed the complaint
An elective program at the Indiana University School of Medicine is under federal investigation for discrimination based on color, race and sex after a senior fellow with a nonprofit opposed to progressive ideology in med schools filed a civil rights complaint against it.
Applicants to the “Underrepresented in Medicine Visiting Elective Program” must identify as “Black/African American, Hispanic/Latinx, LGBTQ+” to qualify, according to its website.
The program invites residents at medical schools other than IU “who want to pursue a fellowship and provides them with the opportunity to spend time at [IU] facilities,” according to the website. It provides a stipend of $2,000 to out-of-state visiting residents.
Mark Perry, emeritus professor of economics and senior fellow with Do No Harm, filed a complaint in July 2022 with the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education.
“OCR has determined that it will investigate the complaint,” Jeffrey Turnbull, team leader at the Office, reported in a December letter to Perry.
Title IV and Title IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibit discrimination based on race and sex, respectively, by institutions that receive federal funds. OCR is responsible for enforcing these laws, the letter stated.
“I only file federal civil rights complaints when I determine after careful review that a school is clearly violating Title VI or Title IX,” Perry said in an email to The College Fix last week.
“IU’s School of Medicine is illegally excluding and discriminating against medical students who are white, Asian, Native American, Pacific Islander, and Middle Eastern and denying them educational opportunities on the basis of their sex and gender identity that are being offered exclusively to Black and Hispanic students,” he said.
The Fix emailed Vicki Bonds, IU’s director of pathway and pre-doctoral programs, for comment, but has not received a response.
Medical school ‘no outlier’ in illegal discrimination
IU School of Medicine is “no outlier,” Perry told The Fix. “Almost every US medical school now illegally discriminates.”
He filed nearly 50 complaints against medical schools in 2022, he said.
“This is just one more disappointing example of dozens of medical schools either being cluelessly unaware that this type of discrimination is illegal or they are instead inexcusably unconcerned about violating the civil rights of certain groups of students (white, Asian, and Middle Eastern students, and cis-gendered heterosexual students),” Perry wrote.
“Medical schools like IU can pursue merit or diversity in their medical education programs, but not both,” he continued. “IU is compromising its academic responsibilities and pursuing a political and ideologically-driven diversity agenda over medical education based on merit and academic excellence.”
The Fix reported in February 2022 that Perry had successfully filed a federal Title IX complaint against Colorado State University for its promotion and support of a female-only leadership program. The program is currently under investigation by the Office for Civil Rights.
Perry said students who believe they are being discriminated against by their medical school may submit an anonymous tip to Do No Harm.
MORE: Nationwide survey finds most medical schools have embedded DEI into their programs
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