Medical schools affected by affirmative action ruling<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Health groups, including medical schools, decried the Supreme Court\u2019s ruling on Thursday to severely limit the use of race as a factor in college admissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In rulings that broke along ideological lines, the court\u2019s six conservative justices invalidated Harvard\u2019s and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill\u2019s (UNC) admissions practices by ruling they did not comply with the 14th Amendment\u2019s guarantee of equal protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The court handed down a 6-3 ruling against UNC and a 6-2 ruling against Harvard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Supreme Court ruling today weakens efforts to make higher education more accessible to members of historically underrepresented groups,\u201d Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement. \u201cPeople of color have been excluded from attending medical school and joining medical organizations for generations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe need more health workers, especially those who look like and share the experiences of the people they serve,\u201d he added. \u201cThis builds trust between provider and patient, and helps to improve the overall quality of care.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The leaders of the Association of American Medical Colleges said they were \u201cdeeply disappointed.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cToday\u2019s decision demonstrates a lack of understanding of the critical benefits of racial and ethnic diversity in educational settings and a failure to recognize the urgent need to address health inequities in our country,\u201d AAMC President and CEO David J. Skorton, and chief legal officer Frank Trinity said in a joint statement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
James E. K. Hildreth, president of Meharry Medical College, one of four medical historically Black colleges and universities in the U.S., said this decision was<\/a> \u201cpotentially a step toward resegregating college campuses, and thus a problem for all socially aware institutions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n