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Texas Med Schools Face Discrimination Suit

Texas Med Schools Face Discrimination Suit
The University of Texas campus in Austin | Image by Jon Herskovitz/REUTERS

Six Texas medical schools are facing a lawsuit accusing them of violating anti-discrimination laws. It was filed by a man who believes he was denied admission into the schools because he is male and white.

The lawsuit, filed on January 10 by America First Legal on behalf of George Stewart, stated that the universities violated anti-discrimination laws by preferring female and non-Asian minority applicants.

The lawsuit is targeting Texas Tech University Health Science Center as well as the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Texas Health Science Center Houston, the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

None of the schools named in the suit have released any public statements in response.

Stewart is challenging affirmative action policies that many U.S. schools abide by to increase enrollment of black, Hispanic, and female students in universities and medical schools.

A Supreme Court case decided in October on the subject involved Harvard University and the University of North Carolina. The majority “cast a skeptical eye on the two institutions’ methods for incorporating race into the admission decision-making process.”

However, the verdict has not been released; it is expected in mid-2023.

Stewart targeted the University of Texas and Texas Tech University school systems. After he was denied admission, he acquired 2021 enrollment data for the schools.

The data, according to Stewart, revealed that even though black, Hispanic, and female students had achieved lower GPAs than white, Asian, and male student applicants, they were shown preference during admissions.

Stewart accused the schools of race and sex discrimination, which is prohibited in federally funded educational programs by federal law.

Data from College Factual show that in both the undergraduate and graduate areas of Texas Tech University Health Science Center, women make up the majority of students. Women represent 84% of undergraduate students and 64% of graduate students. The data also reveal that white students make up 58% of undergraduate students and almost 48% of graduate students.

A similar lawsuit was filed by America First Legal in September, accusing Texas A&M University of violating laws against race and sex discrimination since the school began abiding by policies meant to diversify its faculty. The school has denied any wrongdoing.

Texas schools were also involved when the Supreme Court first ruled on affirmative action policies in 2016 in Fisher v. The University of Texas.

In that case, the court ruled that schools were allowed to consider race in the admissions process and called diversity a “compelling governmental interest.”

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4 Comments

  1. Senior Pastor

    It was filed by a man who believes he was denied admission into the schools because he is male and white.
    Of course they did, but they did it legally through affirmative action and other such mechanisms to legally discriminate against him.

    Reply
    • Djea3

      Actually, affirmative action that reverses discrimination can be unlawful as well. Medical Schools are one of the highest sought after and limited entry in education.
      The problem is that NO university has set up standard admissions with review of racial mix after first round, with a drawing for the second round. ( a First round being say 60% of admission and review before the last 40% are drawn).

      The ONLY fair method is to award lottery tickets in numbers based upon various criteria and then allow a lottery drawing. One would get tickets by GPA and other criteria, then tickets by race and other criteria including family income criteria.

      One person might get 7 tickets and another 4 tickets, another one ticket. Let the drawing create the actual balance.

      Currently there is enough proof of reverse discrimination in almost every university that this is the ONLY method that would pass non-discrimination policies.

      I personally had reverse discrimination issues at University in the 1970’s. It has ONLY GOTTEN WORSE since then.

      Reply
  2. Zulia

    He is right! Everyone is worried about blacks, Asians, females, transgender people, but about white people? So not fare.

    Reply
    • Janet

      Well if he spelled the word “fair” with “fare”, no wonder they denied him. I am sure “race” or “gender” were not the only factors. If they were, he is right to file a law suit.

      Reply

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