Duke Medical School Withdraws Race-Based Promotion Guidelines Amid Legal Scrutiny

DURHAM, NC – Duke Medical School has reportedly removed new race-based promotion guidelines from its website following inquiries and legal concerns. The guidelines, part of an "Appointment, Promotion and Tenure Framework for Scholarship in Justice, Equity, Diversity, Antiracism and Inclusion" (JEDAI), aimed to reward faculty for activities related to recruiting and mentoring "BIPOC faculty." The Washington Free Beacon, citing a tweet from Matthew Continetti, initially reported on the guidelines, stating: > "At Duke Medical School, Race-Based Promotion Guidelines Reward Doctors for Recruiting 'BIPOC Faculty'."

The framework listed several activities as "promotable," including "strengthening ties with Hispanic-serving institutions and historically Black colleges," advising "BIPOC" trainees, and devising strategies to "measurably increase the number of BIPOC learners." Faculty could also earn tenure points for "JEDAI Scholarship" examining patterns of representation and inclusion, or by developing courses on "microaggressions" and the "history of systemic racism."

Duke’s stated goal for these guidelines was to alleviate the "Black tax," described as the disproportionate burden placed on "BIPOC individuals" to represent marginalized groups in institutional committees and initiatives. However, legal experts who reviewed the document, such as Dan Morenoff of the American Civil Rights Project and David Bernstein, a constitutional law professor at George Mason University, indicated that the language "appear[ed] to violate civil rights law." They suggested these criteria could lead to unlawful race discrimination.

Following contact from the Washington Free Beacon, Duke did not issue a comment but removed the controversial criteria from its website sometime after July 3. This development comes as Duke University, along with 44 other institutions, is already under federal investigation for allegedly sponsoring race-based graduate programs. The Free Beacon had previously reported on a similar incident involving Duke's flagship law review, which allegedly sent a secret memo encouraging minority applicants to disclose their race for extra consideration.