get these nets
Veteran
full article, long
05/13/25
University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in Cincinnati.
CINCINNATI — It took Kenneth Davis and his wife more than 20 years to raise the $1.4 million endowment they established for Black medical students entering the University of Cincinnati.
Davis had spent 36 years as the only Black general surgeon in Cincinnati before retiring in 2020. Now, according to the Cincinnati Medical Association, which represents Black doctors in the city, there are none. The scholarship, Davis hoped, would help grow the minuscule ranks of Black doctors in the region.
The endowment is now one of many across the country caught in the Trump administration’s campaign to dismantle federal diversity, equity and inclusion programs in Washington and pressuring corporations and universities to pull back from such efforts nationwide. The University of Cincinnati wants to make all students eligible for Davis’s scholarship, not just Black applicants. At least six other scholarships worth about $4 million established by Black doctors at the school are also under review, according to an email obtained by The Washington Post
“Disparities exist at nearly every part of the health care system, and the data shows that Black folks do better when they’re taken care of by folks who look like us, so it would be immoral for us not to address the shortage,” said Clyde Henderson, a retired orthopedic surgeon in Cincinnati, who also established a scholarship at the University of Cincinnati.
The disparity is particularly stark in Cincinnati where there are fewer than 100 Black or Latino doctors in the region, according to a 2020 report by the Doctors Foundation, a nonprofit that seeks to recruit and retain a diverse physician population in the city. That amounts to less than 5 percent of the physicians in the region. Black residents comprise 40 percent of Cincinnati’s population, and Latino residents make up 5 percent.
But this comes at a time that the University of Cincinnati — home to Ohio’s oldest medical school — is under intense pressure to end diversity programs. In March, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed a sweeping overhaul of the state’s higher education system, banning DEI training and offices and calling for the end of race-based scholarships. The bill was “designed to restore free speech and diversity of thought on campus,” said Jerry C. Cirino, the Republican state senator who sponsored the legislation.
The awards could continue if they are administered by private foundations, not public universities, he said. “I am not against scholarships, I think they’re great, but they just can’t race based,” Cirino said
Black doctors who established scholarships at the university are now scrambling to protect the original missions of their endowments, hoping the political environment will change or the college will back their efforts. Some are considering moving their endowments to outside foundations. But others are losing hope.
“The need here is great,” Davis said. “I get calls from friends of mine all the time looking for a Black physician. And the few we have, their practices are full.”
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Trump DEI policies threaten millions in scholarships raised by Black doctors
The Trump administration’s campaign to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion programs has put at risk six scholarships worth about $4 million established by Black doctors in Cincinnati.05/13/25
University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in Cincinnati.
CINCINNATI — It took Kenneth Davis and his wife more than 20 years to raise the $1.4 million endowment they established for Black medical students entering the University of Cincinnati.
Davis had spent 36 years as the only Black general surgeon in Cincinnati before retiring in 2020. Now, according to the Cincinnati Medical Association, which represents Black doctors in the city, there are none. The scholarship, Davis hoped, would help grow the minuscule ranks of Black doctors in the region.
The endowment is now one of many across the country caught in the Trump administration’s campaign to dismantle federal diversity, equity and inclusion programs in Washington and pressuring corporations and universities to pull back from such efforts nationwide. The University of Cincinnati wants to make all students eligible for Davis’s scholarship, not just Black applicants. At least six other scholarships worth about $4 million established by Black doctors at the school are also under review, according to an email obtained by The Washington Post
“Disparities exist at nearly every part of the health care system, and the data shows that Black folks do better when they’re taken care of by folks who look like us, so it would be immoral for us not to address the shortage,” said Clyde Henderson, a retired orthopedic surgeon in Cincinnati, who also established a scholarship at the University of Cincinnati.
The disparity is particularly stark in Cincinnati where there are fewer than 100 Black or Latino doctors in the region, according to a 2020 report by the Doctors Foundation, a nonprofit that seeks to recruit and retain a diverse physician population in the city. That amounts to less than 5 percent of the physicians in the region. Black residents comprise 40 percent of Cincinnati’s population, and Latino residents make up 5 percent.
But this comes at a time that the University of Cincinnati — home to Ohio’s oldest medical school — is under intense pressure to end diversity programs. In March, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed a sweeping overhaul of the state’s higher education system, banning DEI training and offices and calling for the end of race-based scholarships. The bill was “designed to restore free speech and diversity of thought on campus,” said Jerry C. Cirino, the Republican state senator who sponsored the legislation.
The awards could continue if they are administered by private foundations, not public universities, he said. “I am not against scholarships, I think they’re great, but they just can’t race based,” Cirino said
Black doctors who established scholarships at the university are now scrambling to protect the original missions of their endowments, hoping the political environment will change or the college will back their efforts. Some are considering moving their endowments to outside foundations. But others are losing hope.
“The need here is great,” Davis said. “I get calls from friends of mine all the time looking for a Black physician. And the few we have, their practices are full.”
