Government withholds $108 Million as Duke law review, Duke Health probed for racial bias

This article originally appeared on The College Fix

Duke Law Journal, Duke Health under scrutiny

Two federal agencies have launched probes into Duke University to investigate claims of racial bias as the government pauses over $100 million in funding to the elite institution.

The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights launched an investigation into Duke University’s law journal and the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office froze $108 million in National Institutes of Health grants as it probes Duke Health.

Both actions cite Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which forbids institutions that receive federal funds to discriminate on the basis of race.

The education department probe centers on concerns of racial discrimination in the journal’s selection process. Referencing reporting that discovered potentially discriminatory hiring practices at the Journal, the announcement raises concerns that “select applicants were afforded the opportunity to be awarded extra points based on their personal statements that referenced their race or ethnicity.” Applicants apparently got extra points for being minorities.

Meanwhile, the Education Department and Department of Health and Human Services also sent a letter to university officials raising concerns over Duke Health’s use of “racial preferences” in its “hiring, admissions, and scholarship decisions.”

Duke prompted controversy last year after it fired a physician who questioned systemic racism.

Duke Health is a broad collection of university groups, programs, and departments tasked with health education. According to the letter, it faces severe penalties should it not end what the letter calls “vile racism.” The three-page letter does not specifically spell out those accusations, only referencing the “illegal use of race preferences.”

Among several directives, the departments instructed Duke to form a temporary “Merit and Civil Rights Committee” led by the Board of Trustees. Over six months, the board would review Duke Health’s policies and erase any racially discriminatory guidelines.

Failing Duke’s compliance, the government promised to “commence enforcement proceedings as appropriate.”
Compliance may be easier for Duke after $108 million in NIH funding was reportedly withheld from the university due to the investigation.

Similar funding strategies helped the administration reach a deal with Columbia University, as reported by The Fix.

There is evidence that complaints to the HHS Office of Civil Rights contributed to the letter. For example, the advocacy group Do No Harm submitted complaints in March outlining its concerns.

The group alleged Duke Health fosters a hostile educational and work environment through racially stereotyping training materials that label white male staff as “agents of oppression” who are “privileged by birth,” while characterizing non-white individuals as “targets” of discrimination.

It also cites the case of Dr. Kendall Conger, a former Duke University Health System emergency medicine physician who says he was terminated for questioning statements about systemic racism in his employer’s pledge.

Duke University’s media affairs division, Duke Law Journal, and the Office for Civil Rights did not respond to The College Fix’s requests for comment.

As reported by The College Fix last month, Duke’s actions fit into a pattern of discrimination seen in several other law reviews. In April, the Department of Education launched an investigation into the prestigious Harvard Law Review. Harvard denies any wrongdoing.

Antonin Scalia Law School Professor David Bernstein told The College Fix that claims of discrimination among law review procedures are not surprising.

He said via email that law review editors at top schools often believe they are “above the law” and most likely “they didn’t believe that anyone would deign to investigate them for violating the law.”

For decades, Bernstein said, a requirement of being an instructor was a professed belief in “diversity,” which has been “defined in practice to necessarily include using preferences to increase the representation of African American and Hispanic … students and faculty.”

“Naturally, this attracted people who believed in these preferences, and repelled those strongly against them. So the entire administrative apparatus at almost every significant university is devoted to diversity as at least one of the university’s primary values,” he said.

Shawna Bray, spokesperson and general counsel for the Center for Equal Opportunity, shared similar sentiments. She told The College Fix that, ironically, “our legal institutions feel the most immune from compliance with the law.”

“In the legal field . . . they believe nobody would ever sue them,” she said.

In this case, “the best thing to do is a monitoring agreement,” Bray said. “None of these schools or employers are going into these agreements willingly or with true contrition.”

In 2021, Duke University School of Medicine replaced its Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion with the Office for Culture, Engagement and Impact.

“If you take the words ‘DEI’ off the door and put on the words ‘community’ but then engage in illegal conduct, that is still a problem,” Bray said.

Related posts: