The university’s moves were in stark contrast to other local schools, including Temple and Drexel, though some schools nationally have taken similar steps.
By Susan Snyder, Philadelphia Inquirer, Feb. 15, 2025
The University of Pennsylvania’s medical school plans to dissolve committees having to do with diversity, equity, and inclusion and any roles that implement such efforts.
That’s what Roy Hamilton, vice dean for inclusion, diversity, and equity at the Perelman School of Medicine, communicated to a group of medical school diversity program leaders at a meeting this week, according to a source who attended but asked not to be identified for fear of retribution.
Its websites dealing with diversity also are under review by a university committee and will likely undergo removal or significant modification, the source said. Even the school’s pipeline programs that bring candidates from diverse backgrounds into the medical school for programming will be evaluated to be sure they do not discriminate against anyone, including nonminorities. Those programs also could be changed or dissolved, the source said.
That move represented one action Penn is taking to respond to President Donald Trump’s executive order threatening funding for colleges that employ diversity efforts. Penn Medicine is far from the only school at the Ivy League university taking such measures. Hamilton told attendees the directives were coming from College Hall, Penn’s main administration building.
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