America First Legal files civil rights complaint over DEI at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
America First Legal has filed a civil rights complaint with the Department of Justice against the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine over 'discriminatory' and 'unconstitutional' practices related to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).
The organization announced the complaint in a press release on July 17.
America First Legal has filed a civil rights complaint with the Department of Justice against the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine over “discriminatory” and “unconstitutional” practices related to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).
The organization announced the complaint in a press release on July 17.
“This is about restoring equal treatment under the law,” Megan Redshaw, counsel at AFL, said in comments provided to Campus Reform. “Johns Hopkins has received billions in taxpayer dollars, but it is actively segregating opportunities based on race and sex. That is not just wrong—it’s unconstitutional.”
The complaint, filed on July 16, says that the Baltimore school uses DEI principles such as “inclusive excellence” and “health equity” to discriminate on the basis of race and sex in violation of federal civil rights law.
Specifically, the organization points to the university’s Diversity Leadership Council, House Staff Diversity and Inclusion Council, and Diversity Roadmap. America First Legal claims that the school utilizes these programs and others to engage in discriminatory practices.
“Johns Hopkins has constructed a façade of legality around a deeply illegal system. They have replaced explicit race-based admissions with upstream sorting, downstream subsidies, and bureaucratic double-speak designed to preserve racial preferences,” Redshaw said in a press release.
“This is not only unlawful under the Constitution and federal civil rights statutes—it has no place in medicine where competence must come first,” she continued.
The complaint uses similar language to President Trump’s anti-DEI executive order in January, which describes DEI initiatives as contrary to federal civil rights law.
According to the order, universities “use dangerous, demeaning, and immoral race- and sex-based preferences under the guise of so-called ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ (DEI) or ‘diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility’ (DEIA) that can violate the civil-rights laws of this Nation.”
[RELATED: University of Wyoming cuts DEI degrees, keeps controversial classes]
The July 16 complaint also argues that discriminatory practices in medicine, in addition to being illegal, pose significant challenges to objective-based healthcare.
“The use of DEI-based discrimination in medical education isn’t just unlawful, it’s indefensible,” Redshaw explained in the press release. “Nowhere is the need for objectivity and merit more critical than in medicine, where a physician’s decisions can mean the difference between life and death.”
America First Legal has filed civil rights complaints against other universities over DEI practices, including Colorado State University and Cornell University.
Campus Reform contacted Johns Hopkins University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
