Activists group claims major win with UNC Medical School with DEI Task Force Recommendations

A group of activists against the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion movements says that this month they successfully compelled UNC's Medical School to throw out its DEI task force and its recommendations.

The claims come from a group called Color Us United. WRAL has found their statement to be valid, however the taskforce has been disbanded more than a year.

"We wanted to pick UNC Medical School specifically to start our campaign to get the dean to renounce the task force to integrate social justice," said Kenny Xu, President of Color Us United.

The group said they focus on having a race-blind society and are against the use of diversity, equity and inclusion guidelines in admissions and teachings at medical schools.

Color Us United presented its evidence through a letter from a university attorney, saying, "The recommendations have not been operationalized and the task force has concluded its work."

The letter also said there is no plan to implement the task force's recommendations now or in the future.

"We really believe UNC medical school is the start of something," Xu said. "If we were able to get UNC to renounce their DEI framework, we can go to any medical school in the country and say follow UNC's lead."

A spokesperson with UNC's Medical School said the DEI task force was formed in 2019 and made its recommendations a year later in 2020, ending its work then. The spokesperson added that most of the recommendations were not implemented.

A document from the university from February 2022 detailed the lists the medical school's response to the DEI task force recommendations.

It said the task force made 42 recommended changes, and existing efforts had already addressed 37.

Four were marked as not implemented or with no plan to implement, showing that just one recommendation was ever implemented.

DEI has not been wiped out from UNC's med school, in any case.

The school maintains an office of diversity, equity and inclusion and offers a DEI certificate to students who complete workshops like "unconscious bias" and racial equity in healthcare.

Opponents claim systemic racism does not exist in the medical field.

"We should not do not have training, curricula, or preferences that try to distract doctors from the mission of performing the best care for their patients," Xu said.

WRAL reached out to the medical school's Office of DEI for a response to the view that medical care should be race-blind; the office has yet to respond.