The University of Colorado School of Medicine has revised who can apply to a scholarship after facing a lawsuit alleging it was racially discriminatory. The university made the change in order to settle a lawsuit.
The change comes amid increasing scrutiny of race-based scholarships in the wake of a 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down race-based admissions in higher education, as well as new executive orders ending diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
The group Do No Harm sued the medical school in December, alleging a medical scholarship offered by the University of Colorado School of Medicine excluded white and Asian American students because it was only offered to students from groups “historically underrepresented in medicine.”
How did the lawsuit start?
The school’s oncology department offered a $2,000 “Underrepresented Minority Visiting Elective Scholarship.” It was for visiting medical students studying radiation oncology and was “open to anyone who identifies with the groups recognized as historically underrepresented in medicine including but not limited to African American/Black, Native American, Hispanic/Latino, Pacific Islander, LGBTQ+, or those from a disadvantaged socioeconomic background.”
Do No Harm sued the medical school on behalf of one of its members “who was otherwise eligible for the scholarship,” but was disqualified based on race, “which he cannot control,” according to the lawsuit. It alleged the scholarship violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
How did CU School of Medicine change its scholarship?
As part of the settlement agreement, the university changed the scholarship’s name to the “Radiation Oncology Visiting Elective Scholarship.” The revised program is “open to all applicants – the focus is on those who have had personal experience overcoming hardship or have an interest in working with or advocating for patients who have traditionally experienced barriers to accessing health care.”
“We are pleased that University of Colorado eliminated the racial requirement for this scholarship,” said Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, chairman of Do No Harm, in a statement. “Racial discrimination is immoral and has no place in medical education. Medical scholarships should go to the most qualified candidate based on merit, not race.” The scholarship covers expenses related to a four-week rotation and allows students to explore specialties within medicine.
The School of Medicine could not immediately be reached for comment. An earlier complaint about the program was dismissed by the federal Office for Civil Rights because some white students (those from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds) were eligible.
Do No Harm said the university also changed racial requirements for a summer research program called GEMS – Graduate Experiences for Multicultural Students —by opening it to students of all races.
The lawsuit was dismissed and both parties agreed to pay their own legal fees.
More challenges are likely
"It's a safe bet that this administration and its allies will continue to legally challenge the use of race or ethnicity in scholarship criteria," said Kevin Welner, a professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, School of Education, specializing in educational policy and law.
He continued: "The current majority on the U.S. Supreme Court has embraced an ahistorical application of the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause, which was adopted for the express purpose of preventing discrimination against Black people who were no longer enslaved. The Court and the Trump administration are now using the clause to attack policies designed to avoid perpetuating that discrimination and resulting inequalities."
The scholarship revision agreement comes just a day before the federal Department of Education issued an advisory letter to school districts and colleges stating it will target race-based scholarships, prizes, financial aid, hiring, admissions, compensation, promotion, administrative support, discipline, housing and graduation ceremonies. (For example, the administration wants to stop schools from hosting additional graduation ceremonies aimed at recognizing and celebrating the achievements of a minority group.)
The advisory letter is a notification about how the federal department will be interpreting the law. It relies heavily on a broad interpretation of the Supreme Court decision on college admissions.
“The law is clear: treating students differently on the basis of race to achieve nebulous goals such as diversity, racial balancing, social justice, or equity is illegal under controlling Supreme Court precedent,” the letter states. It said the federal government will enforce this interpretation of the law not just at colleges but preschool and K-12 institutions that receive financial assistance.
There are likely to be challenges to the broad interpretation of the Supreme Court decision once the department begins to enforce the letter.
