Duke University’s Medical School is under scrutiny after implementing race-based promotion guidelines that openly reward faculty for race-based activities—policies legal experts warn may violate federal civil rights law. The “Appointment, Promotion and Tenure Framework for Scholarship in Justice, Equity, Diversity, Antiracism and Inclusion” allows doctors to boost their tenure prospects by mentoring BIPOC trainees, advising race-specific student groups, and working to “measurably increase the number of BIPOC learners.”
The criteria also include initiatives like “educating about the institutional and contextual history of systemic racism in the United States” and courses on “microaggressions” as promotable activities. One section even claims that “Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) individuals are frequently and disproportionately burdened” by the so-called “Black tax”—language critics say institutionalizes identity politics over academic excellence.
“These don’t sound like gray areas,” said Dan Morenoff, executive director of the American Civil Rights Project. “They sound like very open violations of federal law.”
George Mason University law professor David Bernstein called the framework “totally outrageous,” adding that it equates ideological activism with “actual medical research and clinical work.”
After inquiries from the Washington Free Beacon, Duke quietly removed the guidelines from its website. But the damage may already be done. The Department of Education is currently investigating the university as one of 45 schools accused of hosting race-based programs.
As Bernstein put it, “ideological nonsense” has no place in medical science—especially when it’s rewarded over merit.
