The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio this week warned that Northeast Ohio Medical University, a public medical school in Rootstown, is risking violating students' first-amendment rights by no longer funding race-based student groups or celebrations like Black History Month.
In late February, NEOMED President John Langell discussed how the university is seeking to comply with new guidance from the U.S. Department of Education, which threatens to pull funding from schools, colleges and universities with diversity, equity and inclusion programs or that "distribute benefits or burdens" to students based on race.
Langell said the university's interpretation of that "Dear Colleague" letter sent to institutions on Feb. 14 was that the university can no longer provide funding to student organizations that focus on specific racial groups. Langell said that also means no funding for Black History Month events or similar celebrations.
"We should recognize all different members of our society," Langell said. "This (Black History Month) just happens to be a nationally designated month. It's not that that won't happen; it will continue. They're just telling us we can't spend dollars on specific items for it. But free speech and people congregating and coming together to celebrate is still what we do as people. So it may seem disappointing, but that isn't changing."
The university is making a "disturbing overcorrection" in response to the "Dear Colleague" letter, the ACLU of Ohio argued in a March 10 letter to Langell.
"These measures are not required by federal law, even as expressed in the Dear Colleague letter," the ACLU of Ohio wrote. "We urge NEOMED to reconsider them immediately, as they risk infringement on students’ First Amendment rights. Critically, there is no indication that these student groups discriminate on the basis of race."
The letter explains that the NEOMED chapter of the Asian Pacific American Medical Students Association, for example, states that it will "not will not deny membership on the basis of race, color, [etc.]," so, the membership is organized around "a subject matter or viewpoint, not race."
The ACLU of Ohio urged NEOMED to "stand down from its newly announced course of action with regard to student groups and cultural observances that pertain to race."
One student told Langell during his February address that the moves to cut funding to her group, the Student National Medical Association, had blindsided it.
"A lot of our club's funding has been pulled, and I feel personally impacted by that, because we had a lot of things planned, obviously, for this semester," she said. "And then our advisor told us that we can't do any of it, because we don't have funding."
The association's mission includes supporting current and future underrepresented minority medical students.
The university is doing its best to navigate the guidance from the U.S. Department of Education, Langell said in response; he added things could change if the guidance is challenged in court. However, he also noted Ohio's Senate Bill 1, which has yet to pass the Ohio House, could also impact the university's support for student groups, with SB1 requiring universities to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion offices and related efforts.
While the university can't provide funding to race-based student groups and events, Langell said, individuals can still donate directly to the organizations; it just can't pass through the university's foundation. University officials can also still volunteer their time to help out.
"You can still do it yourself. Faculty can volunteer their time themselves. I can volunteer my time myself," Langell said. "It (federal guidance) just says that you're not allowed to use university financial resources to support one group over another."
The university did not respond to a request for comment sent Monday.
