underrepresentation problem Lawsuits targeting diversity efforts in science are multiplying A recent lawsuit highlights the vulnerability of programs intended to promote DEI. Claudia Lpez Lloreda, Undark Magazine Mar 26, 2025 9:58 am | 10 Credit: Cavan Images via Getty Credit: Cavan Images via Getty Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreOn March 5, Do No Harm, an organization that advocates against diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in medicine, among other issues, sued the American Chemical Society for its Scholars Program, which provides financial support to chemistry students from underrepresented backgrounds. The complaint argues the program is illegal because it is not open to white and Asian students. Around two weeks later, Do No Harm also sued the University of Pennsylvania for its partnership with a database called the Black Doctors Directory, which allows patients to find Black physicians.The lawsuits join a recent uptick in legal action against universities, departments, and professional societies that host programs intended to increase diversity across academia, including in the sciences. In May 2024, for example, White students at the University of Oklahoma sued their school, alleging the university discriminated against them by factoring in race when determining financial aid. In August, a conservative activist group sued the Department of Education over the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program, which provides mentoring and research support to underrepresented students pursuing doctoral degrees. Those cases followed the Supreme Courts 2023 decision against factoring in race when considering college admissions, effectively striking down affirmative action.What's happened here is the organizations bringing these lawsuits, they're capitalizing on the fact that the US Supreme Court struck down race-conscious admissions, said Vinay Harpalani, a professor at the University of New Mexico School of Law and an expert on affirmative action policies.Now with President Donald Trumps administration in the White House and a conservative Supreme Court, more organizations may feel inclined to bring these types of lawsuits, he said. They're really trying to expand this doctrine, the scope of this idea the Supreme Court has that we shouldn't use individual race at all in making any of these types of decisions. (Do No Harm did not reply to a list of questions or repeated requests for an interview.)Many legal scholars and scientists say that such cases will hurt the scientific community. I just think that we're going backwards, said Daniel Mindiola, a chemistry researcher at the University of Pennsylvania who is an alumnus of the ACS program. I feel like we're revisiting history again, and we're reliving or dissolving what so far has been accomplished with diversity.Conflicting languageDo No Harm brought the lawsuit against ACS on behalf of a student who, they say, met all the qualifications for the program except the racial requirement. The unnamed student, a high school senior with a 4.35 GPA who plans to major in chemistry, wanted to apply for one of the scholarships of up to $5,000 per year. But the student, whom the complaint describes as half-white and half-South Asian, was ineligible. Do No Harms lawsuit states that was because the Scholars program is only open to applicants who are Black or of African descent, Hispanic or Latino, or Indigenous.On its website, the ACS frames the program as an important way to help increase diversity in the sciences, noting that people from underrepresented groups make up one-third of college-age US citizens, but earn about 18 percent of chemical science bachelors degrees and little more than 10 percent of chemistry doctorates. More than 450 of the programs alumni have earned a doctorate.Do No Harm describes the program in different language. The American Chemical Society is blatantly discriminating against aspiring chemists simply based on their skin color, Do No Harm wrote on its website. In doing so, the organization alleges, ACS violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin in programs that receive federal financial assistance, and the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which says that all individuals have equal rights to make and enforce contracts.You can't decide who to contract with and not and who not to contract with based on race, said Dan Morenoff, an adjunct fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think-tank, and the executive director at the American Civil Rights Project.Do No Harms press release also says that the ACS is in violation of a recent executive order on DEI initiatives in the federal government. In its complaint, the organization states the ACS constitutes as a federal program because of the assistance it receives in the form of tax deductions for charitable contributions.Do No Harm was launched in 2022 with the goal of protecting patients and physicians from woke healthcare. Its founder, Stanley Goldfarb, is the former associate dean at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. Goldfarb has a long history of opposing what he considers discriminatory racial diversity programs, as well as gender-affirming care for children. According to tax filings, the Do No Harm initiative was jumpstarted by a $1 million donation from the family foundation of Joseph Edelman, a hedge fund manager.Since 2022, the organization has used litigation as a way to target diversity programs, including initiatives at Pfizer, the University of Colorado, the University of Washington School of Medicine, and the American Association of University Women. They have also sought to influence legislation against pediatric gender-affirming care.Most recently, they sued the University of Pennsylvania and others for a directory that allows patients to look for Black doctors, saying that the directory is illegal under Title VI of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964.The lawsuit against Pfizer seems to have achieved Do No Harms goal. In 2023, the company opened a diversity fellowship to applicants of all races.Firsthand experiencesThe loss of scholarships like the ACS Scholars Program would harm the scientific community, and in particular people who historically have lacked access and resources to pursue careers in the sciences, said Mindiola. He has experienced this firsthand: The scholarship allowed Mindiola, who is originally from Venezuela, to focus on his lab research without having to take an outside job to sustain himself. It just helped me move forward, he said. These programs, he added, are not discriminating. They're trying to give those races that have a historically low rate of participation a chance.The Scholars Program has provided funding for around 3,500 students to support their studies in scientific fields. With these lawsuits, there are students who are currently enrolled, students who will be enrolled, who see themselves being attacked, said Matt Hartings, an associate professor of chemistry at American University.The potential loss of these programs, Harpalani added, could have a detrimental effect on scientific research: If underrepresented scientists no longer have the resources to continue in their careers, the field might lose important role models and new ways of thinking. Mindiola shared a similar sentiment. I think what makes science move forward is to have a different perspective, because you come from a different background, he said.Harpalani also pointed out that physicians of color are more likely to provide medical service in underserved areas. And some recent research has suggested that racial concordance, in which a patient and a physician are the same race and the driving force behind the Black Doctors Directory, helps patients get better care and have more trust in the health care system. Other research has found that the evidence for this is more mixed, however, and the lawsuit that Do No Harm filed against University of Pennsylvania describes the notion of racial concordance as thoroughly debunked.The American Chemical Society, meanwhile, is already changing language related to diversity, editing a headline on its website from Advancing ACS' Core Value of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Respect to Advancing ACS' Core Value of Inclusion and Belonging. The recent round of applications for the Scholars Program just closed on March 1, though it remains unclear whether the program will continue. Mindiola said he normally gets asked to be on the selection committee for high school and college applicants, but did not receive an inquiry this year. The ACS did not respond to a request for comment because they do not comment on active litigation.Morenoff, at the Manhattan Institute, thinks Do No Harm's lawsuit has a good shot at success: I would bet pretty strongly that if this gets fought out, Do No Harm is going to win.But Hartings suggested that even short of a court victory, the mere threat of lawsuits is likely to push many organizations to cancel or scale back their diversity programming, Even that's a win for them," he said.This article was originally published on Undark. Read the original article.Claudia Lpez Lloreda, Undark MagazineClaudia Lpez Lloreda, Undark Magazine 10 Comments