Only ‘students of color’ allowed to apply
The National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians scrubbed a scholarship only open to “students of color,” following a federal lawsuit.
Do No Harm, a group fighting “diversity, equity, and inclusion” in medicine, filed the lawsuit last week on Jan. 10.
The “diversity scholarships” for emergency medical services techs “will be awarded to students of color who do not hold an EMS certification but who intend to become an EMS practitioner,” according to an archived link.
“NAEMT’s diversity scholarship was established to help support underrepresented groups in joining the EMS profession, and to promote the development of greater diversity in the EMS workforce so that our workforce reflects the communities that we serve,” the website originally stated. “NAEMT will award up to four scholarships of $1,250 that may be used for tuition, fees and books.”
Do No Harm filed the lawsuit on behalf of at least one student it identified who would apply for the scholarship but is not allowed to because she is white. This student “satisfies all of the nonracial criteria” for the scholarship, according to the lawsuit.
The suit requests a “permanent injunction” to stop the program as well as “nominal damages” of one dollar.
The healthcare reform group alleges the program violates the Civil Rights Act of 1866. The lawsuit also cited the Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard Supreme Court case that banned affirmative action in higher education.
The emergency medical tech group says it supports “diversity and inclusion” on its website.
“NAEMT believes that the EMS workforce should reflect the demographics of the communities in which it serves. National and state EMS associations have a responsibility to promote diversity and inclusion within the EMS profession,” its website states. “NAEMT actively collaborates with other national EMS organizations and EMS agency and education leaders to promote a diverse and inclusive EMS workforce and encourages individuals from underrepresented communities to attend EMS education programs.”
Do No Harm Chairman Stanley Goldfarb stated in a news release that the group “is given the important responsibility of training America’s first responders.”
“Like all aspects of healthcare, training the best and brightest to provide the best care for patients should be the primary concern of all medical organizations, not the skin color of an EMT,” Dr. Goldfarb, a former associate dean at the University of Pennsylvania’s medical school, stated. “First responders and all medical professionals should be given opportunities, training, and scholarships on the basis of merit.”
The healthcare reform group has been successful in fighting racial discrimination by universities, as profiled by The College Fix.
It has filed more than 140 complaints with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights in the past two years. So far nearly 40 investigations have been opened as a result, with some programs being amended following a complaint. Senior Fellow Mark Perry, a consultant to The Fix on an unrelated project, has filed many of the complaints.
Perry previously told The Fix “almost every college and university in the country engages in some form of illegal discrimination.”
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IMAGE: National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians
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