DOJ Says George Washington University Allegedly Factored Race Into Medical School Admissions – The Epoch Times

George Washington University as a few Oversight Committee Republicans visit the campus in Washington on May 1, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

George Washington University Medical School admissions officers allegedly rejected white and Asian candidates for the 2024 and 2025 incoming classes in favor of lower-credentialed black and Hispanic applicants, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said today.

Her agency investigated illegal admissions practices that violate federal Civil Rights laws prohibiting discrimination based on race.

Additionally, a 2023 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of Asian students who sued Harvard University and the University of North Carolina because they were denied admission based on their race reaffirms those laws.

“GW Med’s admissions practices reveal an intent to prioritize racial diversity over merit, which is unlawful and poses legitimate public health consequences for the patients its future doctors will serve,” she said in an Aug. 27 news release.

“The law is simple—admissions officers can no longer discriminate based on race in the name of diversity.”
Department of Justice investigators found that the university, after the 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision, did issue guidance against favorable preference based on racial or ethic identity information listed in the “check-box data” sections of applications.
Following that directive, the application process included essay questions “that were designed to elicit information about an applicant’s race or ethnicity,” Dhillon said.

Admissions officers then used that information to select applicants for interviews, which were scored as part of the admissions process.

As for the standardized test scores, the medical school admitted black students who scored significantly lower on the MCAT test than white or Asian applicants in 2024 and 2025.

Dhillon said white and Asian applicants were regularly denied admission during that time in favor of lower-credentialed black and Hispanic candidates.

The DOJ investigation into this matter is continuing, and the agency will attempt to engage in settlement negotiations with George Washington University to ensure the school’s admissions practices are brought into compliance.
If those efforts fail, Dhillon said, a lawsuit will be filed.

Under civil rights laws, the federal government can withhold funding from higher education institutions that discriminate on race.
George Washington Medical School, with an acceptance rate of less than 2 percent and a typical annual application pool of 15,000-plus candidates, is one of the most competitive post-graduate institutions in the United States.
An August 2022 news release on the medical school’s website about its incoming Class of 2026 called the group its “most diverse yet with 52 percent women and 65 percent identifying as nonwhite.
Following the 2023 U.S. Court decision, the institution stopped noting race and ethnicity in its coverage of medical school admissions.

This year’s new release, issued on Aug. 19, notes that the Class of 2030 consists of 52 percent women and includes students from 22 states.

Instead of diversity, the release regarding this year’s group of first-year students touts experience outside the classroom.
“Nineteen students served as EMTs before medical school. Others include Division I athletes, former youth-sports coaches, certified scuba divers, musicians, dancers, a DJ, an audiobook narrator, a former college mascot, and a second-degree Taekwondo black belt,” the news release said.

The Epoch Times reached out to George Washington University for comment.