OSU denies medical school discrimination

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(The Center Square) – The Ohio State University denies its medical school discriminates against white and Asian applicants after the U.S. Department of Justice claimed otherwise.

The U.S. Department of Justice said that the Ohio State University College of Medicine discriminated against white and Asian applicants in its admission decisions through 2023, 2024, and 2025, after its own federal investigation.

The department alleges the medical school’s admissions practices are in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which prohibits admission on the basis of race.

The university disputes the findings, Benjamin Johnson, chief communications officer of Ohio State University. told the Center Square in a statement.

“Ohio State strongly disagrees with the findings,” Johnson said. “The university is in full compliance with the Supreme Court's ruling and all federal and state laws and regulations regarding admissions. The College of Medicine does not consider race, ethnicity or any other protected class during the admissions process. Ohio State follows the law and will contest these findings.”

The findings allege the medical school was 2.8 times more likely to admit Black students than Asian students after an application screening and interview process.

Black students were four times more likely to be admitted than white students, without the screening and interview process through 2024 and 2025, while no Asian students were admitted without the screening and interview.

“OSU Med allows some applicants to bypass its own screening process and skip interviews solely because of the color of their skin,” said Harmeet K. Dhillon, assistant attorney general with the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “A university’s admissions process, and all its stages, should apply equally to all applicants regardless of race.”

In 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in two cases involving Harvard College and University of North Carolina that the schools were in violation of the Constitution’s equal rights principles, in light of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Higher education institutions have since been barred from making admission decisions based on race.

Institutions are still permitted to consider an individual’s experience of belonging or discrimination on the basis of racial identity, but it must be considered as individual experience, and not solely on the basis of race.

The Department of Justice has recently launched investigations and lawsuits against multiple institutions in the wake of the Supreme Court Decision.

Earlier this month, the Department of Justice also alleged the University of California, Los Angeles used discriminatory admissions practices.

Earlier this year, the department sued Harvard University for discriminating against Jewish and Israeli students through selective enforcement of rules.

The department will initiate settlement negotiations with the Ohio State University College of Medicine with the aim of making admission practices compliant.

The department said it will sue if negotiations fail.