A Texas man has filed a lawsuit against six US state-run medical schools, accusing them of violating anti-discrimination laws by using affirmative action to give preference to female and non-Asian minorities in admissions, after he was denied access to all six schools.
George Stewart filed a class action complaint representing all white and Asian men who are “able and ready to apply for admission to any of these six medical schools”, reports The Jurist.
Stewart said he was denied admission to these medical schools for two years while lesser-qualified minority students were given admission. According to admissions data, Stewart obtained and presented in the suit “the median and mean grade-point averages and MCAT scores of admitted black and Hispanic students are significantly lower than the grade point averages and MCAT scores of admitted white and Asian students”.
Additionally, he claims “the John Sealy School of Medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston openly admits to giving admissions preferences to black and Hispanic applicants”, citing their admissions policy, which seeks to “intentionally recruit and select a class whose racial and socioeconomic demographics are representative of Texas residents”.
Stewart asserts that the admissions policies at the six institutions violate four anti-discrimination laws, the Civil Rights Act prohibiting discrimination based on race, colour, or national origin; the Education Amendments of 1972, prohibiting sex discrimination in educational programmes; the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause; and 42 US Code § 1981, which guarantees individuals the same right to make and enforce contracts without regard to race.
The lawsuit references the precedent set in the Supreme Court case Grutter v Bollinger, which held that the use of race in admissions does not violate the Fourteenth Amendment if it is intended to promote a diverse student body.
However, Stewart’s counsel said the opinion in Grutter states “race-conscious admissions policies must be limited in time”, showing that the Supreme Court did not intend to permanently permit race-based considerations in admissions. Nevertheless, Stewart seeks the overruling of Grutter.
Jurist article – Texas medical schools sued for race-conscious admissions practices (Open access)
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Medical schools face PAIA applications over admission requirements
Medical school admissions: ‘SAMA slaps on a bandage while avoiding the wound’
Female medical students win compensation over entrance test bias
Ban on affirmative action had ‘devastating impact’ on diversity at US med schools
Secret KPMG report finds irregularities at UKZN med school