The U.S. Department of Justice sent a letter on Wednesday informing Ohio State that it is commencing a compliance review of the university's College of Medicine, pursuant to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits a recipient of federal financial aid from discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin.
The letter was sent to Amy Nash Golan, senior assistant vice president and senior associate general counsel of Ohio State's Office of Legal Affairs by Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division. Dhillon said in the letter that currently, the DOJ’s investigation will “focus on possible race discrimination in medical school admissions” at the College of Medicine. However, no conclusions have yet been reached about the subject matter of the investigation.
The university must comply with the requested documents by April 24, which include all documents guiding medical school admission policies and procedures, documents regarding any changes in policies following the Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard College Supreme Court decision, which concluded that race-based admissions are unlawful under Title VI, documents concerning all applicant-level admissions data and any internal reviews or statistical analyses conducted by the College of Medicine regarding admissions trends or outcomes by race.
“Ohio State is fully compliant with all state and federal regulations and legal rulings regarding admissions,” university spokesperson Ben Johnson said in an email.
Johnson also said the university has received the letter and will respond accordingly.
A document requesting information also sent by the DOJ further detailed what information the College of Medicine is obligated to provide. Required admissions data from 2019 to 2026 makes up a 46-item list, including requests for standardized test scores, demographic information “collected or inferred,” legacy treatment, education level of an applicant’s parents and meeting the College of Medicine’s prerequisite requirements.
Information regarding the Ohio State College of Medicine Admissions Policy also from the past seven years consists of a 14-item list, including all internal correspondence referring to the use of race or ethnicity in admissions or to the decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, internal correspondence relating to diversity, equity and inclusion in admissions and correspondence to and from donors referring to using race or ethnicity as a factor in admissions, or to the Supreme Court decision.
The list refers to more organizations, like non-profit or non-governmental organizations, medical school ranking publications, grant issuing organizations and pharmaceutical companies in relation to communication over the use of race in admissions or the Supreme Court decision.
