EXCLUSIVE: University of Kansas Might Be Circumventing Anti-DEI Law

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—A medical watchdog thinks the University of Kansas’ medical school is engaging in “zombie DEI” initiatives, even though diversity, equity, and inclusion projects are banned by state and federal law.

“Rebranding DEI as ‘health equity’ or other such terms is a clear effort to skirt state law in the name of woke ideology. Medical schools should drop their DEI agenda,” Do No Harm Chairman Dr. Stanley Goldfarb told The Daily Signal. “Instead, they should focus on merit as the basis for recruitment and admission decisions, and lawmakers should target schools that fail to comply with state laws.”

President Donald Trump has signed a number of executive orders banning diversity, equity, and inclusion discrimination in the federal workforce, in higher education accreditation, and in government-funded education.

A Kansas law prohibited the requirement of “pledging allegiance to, or making a statement of personal support for or opposition to, any political ideology or movement, including a pledge or statement regarding diversity, equity, or inclusion, or to request or require any such pledge or statement from an applicant or faculty member.”

But the University of Kansas Medical Center School of Medicine requires students to meet “diversity objectives and competencies” through assignments that demand a focus on “social determinants to health,” the watchdog group Do No Harm uncovered.

The School of Medicine at the University of Kansas also provides Health Equity Medical Education Consults.

“This opportunity is for the School of Medicine faculty who interface with learners at all stages (postbaccalaureate and medical students, residents, fellows and other faculty) to seek guidance in making your teaching more equitable and inclusive,” the website reads.

The accompanying PDF features “Race and Ethnicity” at the top of the list of topics that faculty members can receive guidance on.

The school has a document from the Diversity, Health Equity, and Inclusion Committee posted on its website describing concepts such as racialized medicine; structural racism; intersectionality; implicit/institutional bias; and cultural humility.

KUMC partnered with the University of California at San Francisco in 2023 on the REPAIR Project within the Center for African American Health.

Despite the provisions in Kansas’ anti-DEI bill, KUMC still catalogs many of UCSF’s resources on the website, such as “Imagining Medical Abolition” and “Imagining Medical Reparations.”

“REPAIR is an acronym for REParations and Anti-Institutional Racism,” according to UCSF.

The University of Kansas did not immediately respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment.

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