APA: Supreme Court affirmative action decision undermines medical provider diversification

The American Psychiatric Association released a statement condemning the Supreme Court’s ruling declaring that race cannot be a factor in university admissions. The Supreme Court on June 29 ruled 6-3 that admissions programs at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill that relied partly on race considerations were unconstitutional.

“Race-conscious admissions policies are designed to address racial discrimination by recognizing and responding to the structural barriers that hinder access to higher education for underrepresented students,” the APA said in the statement. “While the ramifications have yet to be fully determined, today’s decisions in Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina undermine the ability of colleges, universities and medical schools to build a workforce of health care professionals that can effectively treat the increasingly diverse body of patients they serve.” “Harvard’s and UNC’s admissions programs violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment,” Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion.

“The student must be treated based on his or her experiences as an individual — not on the basis of race.”

In response, Harvard released a statement stating that it will comply with the court’s ruling, while affirming its core principle that transformative learning requires diversity.

“To prepare leaders for a complex world, Harvard must admit and educate a student body whose members reflect, and have lived, multiple facets of human experience. No part of what makes us who we are could ever be irrelevant,” Harvard said in its statement.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill also released a statement.

“Carolina remains firmly committed to bringing together talented students with different perspectives and life experiences and continues to make an affordable, high-quality education accessible to the people of North Carolina and beyond. While not the outcome we hoped for, we will carefully review the Supreme Court’s decision and take any steps necessary to comply with the law,” Kevin M. Guskiewicz, chancellor and chief executive of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said in the statement.

“Research supports that race concordance between physicians and patients and cultural sensitivity are associated with improved communication and better overall mental health outcomes,” the APA said in its statement. “The Supreme Court’s decisions in Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina impede reaching these goals and achieving health equity in the United States.”

In July 2022, APA trustees voted to sign an amicus brief filed by the Association of American Medical Colleges that supported the admissions programs at Harvard and UNC.

“[T]he legacy of American racial injustice has endured longer across the health care and medical-education systems than many might have predicted,” the brief read. “As a result ... if a program seeks a racially diverse student body with more than token representation, most schools will necessarily continue to rely on the consideration of an applicant’s racial or ethnic background in some cases. And any prohibition on the consideration of race in student admissions will therefore result in a student body with significantly fewer minority students.”

References:

• Students for Fair Admission v. President and Fellows of Harvard College. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/22pdf/20-1199_hgdj.pdf. Published June 29, 2023. Accessed June 29, 2023.
• Supreme Court Decision. https://www.harvard.edu/admissionscase/2023/06/29/supreme-court-decision/. Published June 29, 2023. Accessed June 29, 2023.
• June 29, 2023, Statement. https://admissionslawsuit.unc.edu/june-29-2023-statement/. Published June 29, 2023. Accessed June 29, 2023.