Medical schools accused of rebranding DEI programs to evade Trump administration scrutiny
Medical schools are rebranding DEI offices with terms like "belonging" and "excellence," but a new report claims the programming remains the same.
FIRST ON FOX: Medical schools across the U.S. are rebranding their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) departments as the Trump administration increases scrutiny of DEI programs in higher education and medicine, according to a new report by CriticalRace.org.
The report, which examined six medical schools, found that although the departments have been renamed, their programming has remained largely unchanged, despite some softened language since President Donald Trump began his second term in 2025.
"The rebranding is not really meaningful in a sense," William Jacobson, a Cornell Law School professor and founder of the Equal Protection Project, told Fox News Digital. "The programming hasn't changed and a lot of the examples, and I think there's a couple in our report, they simply shift programs over to a different department or under a different name, but the programming hasn't really changed."
The medical schools profiled in the report include Drexel University College of Medicine, Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, and the University of Nevada-Reno School of Medicine (UNR Med). CriticalRace.org's report notes that the schools often used terms such as "belonging," "engagement" and "excellence" in names of what appeared to be rebranded DEI departments.
"You see all of these euphemisms for critical race theory, all of the euphemism, frankly, for race discrimination popping up, and that's the rebranding that we're talking about, and that is what we've documented at six particular medical schools," Jacobson told Fox News Digital. "Medical schools are the worst when it comes to DEI."
Drexel University College of Medicine, according to the report, described its Office of Community Health and Inclusive Excellence in an announcement, saying it "incorporates the functions of the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the former Office of Community Health & Health Equity, to better align and strengthen the College’s resources to address inclusivity across missions." The office, according to Drexel's website, supports a Diversity Week and the college's Diversity in Medicine Research Symposium.
The Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell did something similar, rebranding its DEI office as the "Office of Engagement & Excellence," according to the report. The office's list of featured events includes student-led "Safe and Brave Spaces" and "Diversity Night."
In response to Fox News Digital's request for comment, Terry Coniglio, spokesperson for Hofstra University, said, "The Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell supports all students while remaining consistent with its institutional values and applicable law."
At Northwestern University, the Feinberg School of Medicine once had a DEI office, but the report says it has since been replaced by the Office of Health Equity, which offers "Safe Space Training." CriticalRace.org's report notes that the training is open to students, trainees, staff and faculty and aims to educate LGBTQIA+ allies.
The Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University also rebranded its DEI office, according to CriticalRace.org, which cited a Campus Reform report on the matter. Campus Reform reported in November 2025 that the school renamed its Office of Health Equity, Diversity and Inclusion to the Office of Strategic Partnership in Health, Education and Resources (SPHERE), which still promoted "equity" programs.
Meanwhile, UNR Med appeared to have moved its DEI programs to another department, taking them from the Office of Diversity and Inclusion to the Multicultural Center, according to the report. The university's website describes the Multicultural Center as "a critical hub of cultural, LGBTQIA+, gender-focused services, programs and social justice initiatives that support student success and increase graduation rates of students at the University of Nevada, Reno." The website page for the Multicultural Center's webpage also features a DEI statement.
In response to a question about what happened to its Office of Diversity and Inclusion, UNR Med told Fox News Digital that "in line with multiple unit reorganizations within the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine the dean’s staff currently includes an associate dean for inclusive excellence but does not include a named office."
Additionally, UNR Med clarified that the Multicultural Center serves the entire university and acts as "a student support and engagement center dedicated to fostering belonging, cultural understanding and student success."
"The Multicultural Center does not conduct student recruitment, admissions or enrollment services; its primary focus is supporting students once they are part of the university community and helping create an inclusive environment," UNR Med told Fox News Digital.
UNR Med said that it "abides by accreditation standards related to curricular programming, student admissions and faculty recruitment" and that it "remains compliant with all federal laws and guidelines, as well as state law, the Nevada Constitution and the U.S. Constitution."
Fox News Digital reached out to Drexel University College of Medicine, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University for comment but did not immediately receive responses.
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Upon his return to office in 2025, Trump signed several executive orders aimed at eliminating DEI from various aspects of American life. Jacobson said that while these orders have had an impact, many in academia are not ready to let go of DEI, which he called a "religion on campuses." The Cornell Law School professor believes that many are biding their time until the Democrats return to power, hoping that it will mean a return to DEI.
"The schools, particularly the medical schools, are hanging on to DEI, like survivors on a shipwreck, and they're hoping for a rescue, and they think their rescue is going to be Democrats getting control of the federal government again, because then all the DEI will come back. They're not giving it up," Jacobson told Fox News Digital.
Jacobson argued that, while DEI is an issue in academia, it presents a different set of risks when introduced in the medical field. He explained that it "destroys confidence in the system," as patients may question whether their physicians were admitted to medical school and trained fairly, as well as whether they will receive fair treatment.
"When this sort of race-based focus, when this sort of identity group focus happens in medicine, it's extremely destructive," he added.
In 2022, Jacobson was named as the plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging New York guidance that instructed healthcare providers to consider race and ethnicity when prioritizing scarce COVID-19 treatments. He argued that the policy was discriminatory and violated federal civil rights laws. Courts dismissed the case after finding that he lacked standing. However, Jacobson told Fox News Digital that the case was a prime example of the dangers of having DEI influence the medical field.
"This has a real world impact," Jacobson told Fox News Digital. "This is not just the crazy dance therapy department or the crazy gender ideology department or the sociology department where the most harm they can really do is to the minds of young people. Here we're talking about healthcare decisions are being made, access to healthcare because of the DEI infusion in medical schools is being rationed and affected by these ideologies. So this is life and death. This is serious stuff."
While Trump's executive orders did not categorically prohibit DEI programming at medical schools, a January 2025 order pointed to the medical industry and institutions of higher education as areas in which race- and sex-based preferences could violate federal civil rights laws.
The order, titled "Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity," called on the Justice Department and the Education Department to issue guidance to federally funded institutions on complying with the Supreme Court's 2023 decision restricting the use of race in college admissions.
Jacobson argued that many medical schools had changed the language used in programs without necessarily changing their intent.
"I think it's less blatant. I think, again, they don't use the terminology of color in their programming like they used to, but it's the same programming," Jacobson said.
There is one major difference when it comes to DEI in medical schools, according to Jacobson. The law professor told Fox News Digital that, while in most areas of academia the push for DEI is driven by professors, in medical schools it tends to come from administrators rather than instructors.
"If you'd asked me four years ago, I would have said, wait five years, and DEI will have captured STEM, the sciences, and we're now four to five years and it's captured a lot of STEM, not as bad as the humanities and the social sciences, but there is a real problem in the sciences with DEI," Jacobson said. "Unlike the other aspects of the universities where it's professor-driven, in medicine, it's mostly administration-driven."
He said that this could mean the policies may be easier to address once identified, but that medical schools remain "extremely resistant to change."
Jacobson believes states could play a significant role in challenging DEI policies at public medical schools, particularly as federal officials and accrediting organizations increase their scrutiny of race-based requirements. He also noted that the federal government has played a role in the accrediting stage, adding that some DEI practices were required by accreditors, who are now under pressure.
Ultimately, Jacobson believes that government action has to be accompanied by a significant cultural shift in academia.
"The federal and state governments can help, but we need a long-term effort over many years to change the culture on campuses to a culture of equality, not a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion," he told Fox News Digital.