University of Pennsylvania Health System stripped diversity, equity, and inclusion websites across numerous departments and programs amid continuing federal attacks on DEI.
The Health System quietly took down over half a dozen websites previously containing commitments to diverse admissions, hiring, and care practices — continuing Penn's widespread rollback of diversity programs, policies, and initiatives. Penn initially removed references to inclusion and equity in February following the federal government’s crackdown on DEI, and the new erasures come in the wake of increased federal action.
At the time of publication, the DEI sites of one Penn Medicine department and six Perelman School of Medicine programs have been scrubbed.
A request for comment was left with a Penn Med spokesperson.
Penn Med Dermatology’s page regarding the department’s practices around underrepresented groups in medicine, as well as the residency program’s diversity and inclusion statement, was taken down. The stripped webpage used to include the group’s commitment to “incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout the resident curriculum and clinical opportunities,” according to a previous version of the site archived by The Daily Pennsylvanian.
Perelman’s Medical Scientist Training Program’s diversity and inclusion statement was also taken down.
“A primary mission of Penn MSTP is to have a diverse program in which students of all backgrounds and identities are supported and able to flourish,” the previous site stated. “We actively seek to enroll and affirm students from groups that are underrepresented in the MD-PhD workforce … with the goal of promoting equal opportunity for all of our students in the physician-scholar career path.”
Information — including a mission statement, membership, and events — regarding the Perelman Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Anti-Racism Committee’s work was removed from the department’s webpage. The McKay Orthopaedic Research Laboratory also stripped a site previously dedicated to the lab’s Representation and Anti-Discrimination Committee.
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The Perelman Department of Physiology’s DEI statement and webpage were stripped. The site previously stated that the “study of physiology … benefits from diverse technical approaches and conceptual insights” and reiterated the department’s commitment to building an “inclusive and supportive research community.”
“Ongoing events across our country and locally have brought into sharp focus the injustices and inequalities that our colleagues and neighbors face. We will not settle for the status quo,” the department’s old diversity statement read. “Penn Physiology has formed a committee to implement new practices to continually improve diversity and inclusivity and to advocate for equal access and support for career opportunities for the next generation of scientists.”
Perelman’s Cell and Developmental Biology department renamed their diversity and inclusion webpage to “Community and Wellness.” The site no longer mentions diversity, but still displays solidarity and mission statements.
Penn’s changes come after the Department of Justice launched the Civil Rights Fraud Initiative, jointly led by the Civil Fraud Section and Civil Rights Division, earlier this week. The federal agency will use the False Claims Act — legislation that has rarely been invoked against universities in its history — to “investigate and, as appropriate, pursue claims against any recipient of federal funds that knowingly violates federal civil rights laws.”
“America has watched a tidal wave of anti-Semitism sweep our universities and seen public institutions codify inherently divisive policies like DEI at an unprecedented rate,” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche stated in a DOJ press release announcing the initiative. “The days of using federal funds to further discrimination are over.”
According to an internal memo, institutions found in violation of the False Claims Act could be subject to monetary fines and criminal prosecution. In the same press release, Attorney General Pamela Bondi also noted that universities that “allow anti-Semitism and promote divisive DEI policies are putting their access to federal funds at risk.”
On May 12, the DOJ announced an investigation into Harvard University to determine whether the institution’s admissions practices complied with a United States Supreme Court ruling that terminated affirmative action. The probe also invoked the False Claims Act.
The recent federal actions align with 1968 Wharton graduate and President Donald Trump’s campaign against DEI. On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order requiring universities that receive federal funding — such as Penn — to terminate any DEI programs that could be in violation of federal civil rights laws.
In response, Penn revised longstanding University policies and initiated a widespread series of changes to DEI initiatives and programs. Policies and programs across Penn’s four undergraduate and 12 graduate schools were changed in the month following the executive order.
