Staff Reports
The short version: watchdog group Do No Harm filed an addendum to its IRS complaint late in October, saying the American Medical Association Foundation quietly reissued scholarship listings that still favor applicants by race. The group wants the IRS to include the revised entries in any tax‑exempt review. In plain English: the AMA Foundation may have tried to dress up race‑based scholarships in neutral language, and critics say the trick doesn’t pass the smell test.
What the addendum actually alleges
Do No Harm’s filing points to the Foundation’s Physicians of Tomorrow scholarship page and says two awards were changed only at the margins. One scholarship that once required applicants “of Eastern European descent” now gives “preference” to students affiliated with a federally recognized American Indian or Alaska Native tribe. Another award that formerly listed specific races now uses neutral phrasing about students from “economically disadvantaged and vulnerable communities.”
Kurt Miceli, chief medical officer at Do No Harm, argues those tweaks are cosmetic. “Replacing one racial preference with another does nothing to cure the underlying discrimination,” he said. In short, the watchdog says the Foundation swapped labels instead of fixing a legal and moral problem.
Why tax-exempt rules matter here
Nonprofit tax law doesn’t exist to be a costume shop. Organizations that enjoy charitable tax breaks must follow public‑policy limits—meaning they can’t run programs that effectively discriminate by race. Do No Harm leans on that principle and Supreme Court precedent to argue the AMA Foundation could be ineligible for 501(c)(3) benefits if it awards scholarships on a race basis, even if the race language has been softened.
That matters for taxpayers. When a group receives special tax treatment, the public rightly expects its benefits to serve the public interest, not the perpetuation of racial preferences dressed up in new wording.
Where this goes next
The AMA Foundation has not offered a public rebuttal to the addendum, and the IRS has not announced any public action. Do No Harm wants the IRS TEGE unit to include the revised scholarship text in its review. The agency can open a confidential examination and, in extreme cases, revoke tax‑exempt status—but those processes move slowly and out of public view.
Bottom line — no more word games
Here’s the plain conservative take: if the AMA Foundation was trying to fix a problem, it would remove any race‑based eligibility entirely or offer clear, legal justifications. Swapping one racial label for another or slipping in “vulnerable communities” as a cover is not a fix; it’s theater. Tax breaks are not a blank check for social engineering. The IRS should do its job, the Foundation should stop playing word games, and scholarships should be given on merit or lawful, transparent criteria—not buried behind euphemisms that try to have it both ways.
