HANOVER — The U.S. Department of Education has launched a civil rights investigation into admissions practices at Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine for alleged racial discrimination in admissions. Four other schools are also included in the investigation.
“Many schools seem to be more focused on meeting racial quotas than selecting individuals who have earned entrance based on merit,” according to a quote by Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey in the July 22 news release.
The notice investigation is not a finding of wrongdoing, Dartmouth spokeswoman Jana Barnello said in a Wednesday statement.
“We remain confident in Geisel’s admissions process and will respond to the Department of Education’s request for information in due course, consistent with applicable law,” Barnello said by email.
In January 2025, Trump signed an executive order prohibiting race- and sex-based preferences in education, among other sectors. He specifically pointed to diversity, equity and inclusion programs as violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964, or Title VI, which protects citizens from discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin.
Education institutions that received federal funding were required to adjust programs to comply with Trump’s concerns over policies and procedures that he considered to be prioritizing certain identities to receive opportunities, such as admission into programs, over others.
Dartmouth’s Office for Institutional Diversity and Equity remains despite a restructuring.
College officials had briefly removed the original DEI page to ensure compliance with the January 2025 executive order, as reported by the Dartmouth student newspaper in April of last year. It went live again on the same day, April 25, and currently includes the language “diversity, equity, and inclusion” in a mission statement.
The Geisel School operates its own Office for Diversity, Inclusion and Community Engagement, with a mission to foster a sense of belonging and mutual respect for people of all backgrounds through social programming.
Geisel is among four other medical schools under investigation, including East Carolina University Brody School of Medicine in North Carolina; St. Louis University School of Medicine in Missouri; Western University of Health Sciences in California; and William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Mississippi.
On Aug. 7 of last year, Trump signed another executive order “ensuring accountability in higher education,” it stated. It imposed a requirement on institutions receiving federal funding to be fully transparent over admissions processes.
With it, the Secretary of Education Linda McMahon was instructed to increase admissions data collection to ensure compliance nationwide and “take remedial action” against schools that fail to submit timely, complete, and accurate data, according to the order.
The order noted that while the Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that schools may not consider race in college admissions, limited data along with diversity statements have raised concerns.
Dartmouth has a non-discrimination policy on its website inclusive of all schools and applying to “administration of its educational policies, admission policies, scholarship and loan programs, employment, or other school administered programs,” the page states.
On June 4, the Department of Justice announced investigations into 15 medical schools following findings that the University of California at Los Angeles and Yale University both “illegally used race in medical school admissions,” the release stated. The schools under investigation were not named at the time.
The news release also included information regarding the number of schools that have eliminated or restructured DEI programs and statements to comply with the order.
Dr. Steven Leach is has served as interim dean of Geisel Medical School since September, following the departure of Dr. Duane Compton after 11 years in the role. Dr. Jennifer Hunt is expected to take over Aug. 1, according to an April 2 announcement.
This story was updated to include a statement from Jana Barnello of Dartmouth’s Office of Communications.
