Discriminatory Medical School Scholarships Challenged By Equal Protection Project

Discriminatory Medical School Scholarships Challenged By Equal Protection Project

The Equal Protection Project (EqualProtect.org) has challenged over 275 institutions regarding over 800 programs that discriminate in the name of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Most of our challenges have been filed against higher education and K-12 institutions, but we have also challenged several medical schools.

Our latest filing on June 18, 2026, was against Thomas Jefferson University and its Sidney Kimmel Medical College regarding five (5) scholarships that discriminate on the basis of race, color, or national origin. We filed at the Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) because HHS provides funding to the school and has jurisdiction of health care providers and educational institutions, including alleged violation of Obamacare non-discrimination regulations.

From the Civil Rights Complaint:

We bring this civil rights complaint against Thomas Jefferson University (“TJU”) and its Sidney Kimmel Medical College (“SKMC”), for the administration and promotion of five (5) scholarships which discriminate based on race, color, and/or national origin, in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VI”) and Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (“Section 1557”).2 Four of the challenged scholarships are administered through SKMC, TJU’s medical school, and are designed to support the education and training of future health care professionals. The remaining scholarship is administered by TJU’s Occupational Therapy department and discriminates based on similar criteria. Because TJU receives federal funds, including funding from Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health (“NIH”) it is subject to Title VI.3 Because each of the challenged scholarships involve the education of health care professionals, such scholarships also are subject to the requirements of Section 1557. Moreover, these scholarships violate the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s own nondiscrimination statutes4 and TJU’s own nondiscrimination policies.5

As the Supreme Court explained in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, race-based decision-making in education is subject to the strictest judicial review. 600 U.S. 181 (2023). Title VI prohibits recipients of federal funding from treating individuals differently on the basis of race, color, or national origin. Programs that allocate educational opportunities, financial assistance, or other benefits based on racial or ethnic classifications, including classifications framed as “underrepresented in medicine” as proxies for race and ethnicity—raise serious concerns under Title VI. The challenged scholarships use either racial classifications or race-conscious eligibility and selection criteria to identify preferred beneficiaries and therefore warrant scrutiny under federal civil rights laws.

Equal access to medical education and training should be based on individual merit, qualifications, and potential to serve patients — not racial or ethnic group membership. Discriminatory practices undermine public trust in medicine, fairness, and the integrity of the healthcare workforce undermining HHS’s nondiscrimination requirements and policy goals.

We then detail the five scholarships highlighting the discriminatory standards:

1. Jackson-Minton Scholarship

“Jefferson is committed to improving the diversity of our student body, faculty, and staff, and we recognize that increasing access to scholarship dollars for African American males, who are underrepresented in medicine, is the single most effective means of accomplishing our goal. In this spirit, we established the Jackson-Minton Scholarship Fund…”

2. Dominique “Rem’mie” Fells Scholarship

“This means that your support moving forward will create a lasting legacy for Rem’mie at Jefferson, providing scholarships solely for transgender/gender nonconforming BIPOC students in any TJU academic program.”

3. Visiting Medical Student Diversity Scholarship

The program’s official website states: “This program is open to qualified applicants, including but not limited to students who identify as underrepresented in medicine as defined by AAMC7 and/or HRSA8 and/or disadvantaged9 as defined by NIH.” The program’s official Instagram page states: “All students are welcome to apply, with increased priority for students from underrepresented backgrounds.” The application also says “Who Should apply? Highly motivated rising MS-4 medical students from underrepresented or disadvantaged groups, who are interested to gain exposure and experience in rehabilitation medicine and to network with Jefferson Rehab Medicine residents and faculty members.”

4. Otolaryngology Research Fellowship Scholarship

“Scholarship for Underrepresented Groups in Medicine: Each year the program awards a scholarship to one research fellow who self-identifies as being from a group historically underrepresented in medicine.”

5. Visiting Medical Student Scholarship for Inclusive Excellence

“Who Should Apply? Highly motivated rising 4th year medical students, including but not limited to those who identify as African American, American Indian, Alaska Native, Hispanic/Latino, Pacific Islander, LGBTQ or from a disadvantaged background.”

Throughout the Civil Rights Complaint we explain how TJU consistently uses euphemisms reflecting racial and ethnic classifications, and how it tries to dodge responsibility with perfunctory statements that some of the scholarships are open to everyone. For example:

The Visiting Medical Student Diversity Scholarship is offered through SKMC’s Department of Emergency Medicine. Although the scholarship states that it is open to all qualified applicants, its application materials specifically identify certain racial and ethnic groups, LGBTQ applicants, and applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds as the intended beneficiaries of the program. The scholarship’s emphasis on particular racial groups suggests that race may be considered in the selection process, or at minimum would deter other students from applying.

Additionally:

SKMC consistently relies on the Association of American Medical Colleges’ definition of underrepresented in medicine, which is based on racial and ethnic populations that are underrepresented in the medical profession relative to their representation in the general population.10

10 TJU expressly adopts the Association of American Medical Colleges’ (“AAMC”) definition of “underrepresented in medicine.” See https://www.jefferson.edu/academics/colleges-schools-institutes/skmc/departments/rehabilitation/programs/visiting-medical-student-diversity-scholarship.html [https://archive.is/jsKk4] (accessed June 17, 2026). The AAMC defines individuals who are underrepresented in medicine as “those racial and ethnic populations that are underrepresented in the medical profession relative to their numbers in the general population.” See https://www.aamc.org/about-us/excellence-academic-medicine [https://archive.is/wip/KgGTY].

In our legal section we address why these word games are insufficient:

Several of the challenged scholarships expressly identify preferred beneficiaries based on race. Others use ostensibly race-neutral language while identifying specific racial or ethnic groups as the intended recipients of scholarship benefits. Whether implemented through explicit racial classifications or through race-conscious selection criteria and promotion, these scholarships distribute educational benefits on the basis of race rather than race-neutral standards.

The scholarships that claim to be open to all but simultaneously identify eligibility to certain racial and ethnic groups signal to students not identified that they are not eligible. Courts evaluate potentially discriminatory messaging based on its effect on an “ordinary reader,” rather than the speaker’s stated intent. The relevant inquiry is whether the message would convey that individuals of a particular race or national origin are preferred or discouraged from participating. Here, TJU’s and SKMC’s racial and ethnic signaling is not subtle, but even subtle messaging can convey discriminatory preferences See Ragin v. New York Times Co., 923 F.2d 995, 999–1000 (2d Cir. 1991); Jancik v. Dep’t of Hous. & Urb. Dev., 44 F.3d 553, 556 (7th Cir. 1995); Hous. Rts. Ctr. v. Donald Sterling Corp., 274 F. Supp. 2d 1129, 1138 (C.D. Cal.), aff’d, 84 F. App’x 801 (9th Cir. 2003). In other words, the perception of a reasonable observer controls whether a communication operates as discriminatory signaling, regardless of the speaker’s subjective intent. United States v. Hunter, 459 F.2d 205, 215–16 (4th Cir. 1972).

As the Supreme Court cautioned in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, universities may not accomplish through indirect means what they are forbidden from doing directly. The Court explained that institutions may not “simply establish through application essays or other means the regime we hold unlawful today.” Students for Fair Admissions, 600 U.S. at 230. Accordingly, a scholarship program that is nominally open to all applicants but is structured to recruit, promote, and confer benefits based on race may still violate Title VI.

Fox News covered the filing:

Pennsylvania’s Thomas Jefferson University and its Sidney Kimmel Medical College are facing allegations that several scholarship programs discriminate based on race, according to a newly filed federal civil rights complaint.

On Thursday, the Equal Protection Project filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights, alleging that Thomas Jefferson University (TJU) and its Sidney Kimmel Medical College (SKMC) operate or promote five scholarship programs that unlawfully discriminate based on race, color and/or national origin in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act.

The complaint argues that because TJU receives federal funding, including grants from the Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health, the university is subject to federal civil rights laws governing recipients of federal funds.

The complaint lists the Jackson-Minton Scholarship, Dominique “Rem’mie” Fells Scholarship, Visiting Medical Student Diversity Scholarship, Otolaryngology Research Fellowship Scholarship and the Visiting Medical Student Scholarship for Inclusive Excellence as scholarships it alleges are unlawfully discriminatory and violate Title VI, the Affordable Care Act, Pennsylvania nondiscrimination statutes and TJU’s own policies.

Citing the Supreme Court’s ruling in Students for Fair Admissions, the EPP argues that race-based programs in education should be put under the strictest scrutiny.

“Equal access to medical education and training should be based on individual merit, qualifications, and potential to serve patients — not racial or ethnic group membership,” the complaint states. “Discriminatory practices undermine public trust in medicine, fairness, and the integrity of the healthcare workforce undermining HHS’s nondiscrimination requirements and policy goals.”

The Jackson-Minton scholarship is intended to benefit Black male students, and the Fells scholarship was developed for transgender or gender “nonconforming” BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) students at the university, according to the TJU website.

Some scholarships are open to all qualified applicants, but the university specifically advertises prioritizing or seeking students from racially diverse backgrounds. The Visiting Medical Student Scholarship for Inclusive Excellence says it is open to all qualified students, including those “who identify as African American, American Indian, Alaska Native, Hispanic/Latino, Pacific Islander, LGBTQ or from a disadvantaged background.” Similarly, the Otolaryngology Research Fellowship is available to qualified students, but the university advertises awarding one scholarship a year to a research fellow “who self-identifies as being from a group historically underrepresented in medicine.”

The university website for the Visiting Medical Student Diversity Scholarship also describes the goal of the program as being to “increase the recruitment of diverse trainees into the specialty of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation” and to support “those who identify as an “Underrepresented Minority.”

The EPP argues these scholarships may be open to all but, at the same time, they identify eligibility based on certain racial and ethnic groups.

“The scholarships that claim to be open to all but simultaneously identify eligibility to certain racial and ethnic groups signal to students not identified that they are not eligible,” the EPP argued. “Here, TJU’s and SKMC’s racial and ethnic signaling is not subtle, but even subtle messaging can convey discriminatory preferences.”

The Equal Protection Project is asking the OCR to open an investigation into TJU and SKMC and “impose whatever remedial relief is necessary,” including fines, termination of financial assistance and/or referring the case to the Department of Justice, to address the alleged violations. The complaint also asks the DHHS to open a formal investigation and impose remedial relief.

“Discrimination in an institution devoted to training health professionals is extremely serious,” William A. Jacobson, President and Founder, Equal Protection Project, said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “HHS, which provides funding, has a duty to ensure that federal funding is not used to support – directly or indirectly – practices that violate the civil rights law.”

“Discrimination based on race or ethnicity at institutions receiving federal funding is unlawful regardless of which group is targeted or benefits,” he added.

Thomas Jefferson University told Fox News Digital it “has not received notice of a complaint or pending investigation.”

On June 9, the Department of Justice opened an investigation into the City University of New York following a complaint filed by The Equal Protection Project in May. The investigation was opened after reports that the CUNY Black Male Initiative program discriminates based on race in violation of Title VI.

Reminder: we are a small organization going up against powerful and wealthy government and private institutions devoted to DEI discrimination. Donations are greatly needed and appreciated.

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