Staff Reports
The Department of Justice has dropped a heavy hammer on Ohio State University’s medical school. The Civil Rights Division issued a Findings Letter saying OSU Med ran admissions policies that favored Black and Hispanic applicants and disadvantaged Asian and white applicants for the 2023–2025 entering classes. This is not a gentle nudge. The DOJ says it will seek a voluntary fix — or file suit if the university won’t change.
DOJ says there was clear racial bias in admissions
The DOJ’s Findings Letter lays out hard numbers. It says Black applicants who were screened and interviewed were about 2.8 times as likely to be admitted as Asian applicants with similar credentials. In some parts of the process, Black applicants had 7.7 times the odds of getting an interview versus Asian applicants with the same scores. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon called the practice “plainly illegal” under Title VI and the Supreme Court’s SFFA ruling. Those are not idle words. The DOJ points to internal materials and statistical evidence that show race was effectively a decision driver.
Two pathways, one ugly result: the standard screen and the ‘side door’
The DOJ identified two main ways race skewed outcomes. First was the “standard screening” where race proxies, unblinded “Super Screeners,” and training materials pushed reviewers toward race-based outcomes. Second was a literal “side door” — a route that let applicants skip screener scores and interviews. For 2024–2025, Black applicants who used that side door were admitted at four times the rate of white applicants with similar records, and no Asian applicants were admitted through that pathway. If you call that “holistic,” you might also call a rigged game “strategy.”
OSU pushes back — and the DOJ is ready to litigate
Ohio State says it “strongly disagrees” and will contest the Findings Letter. That’s predictable. Universities have long defended “holistic review” as if it were a magic spell that makes fairness happen. The DOJ, led by Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Morrison on procedural matters, is offering a chance to negotiate a voluntary resolution. If that fails, the Department has signaled it will file suit under Title VI and cite the Supreme Court’s SFFA decision. This is part of a broader enforcement sweep that has already shined a light on several other medical and law schools. The era of unquestioned race-based preferences in elite admissions is getting a very public audit.
Why readers should care
This case matters because it is about fairness and about trust in institutions we rely on to pick our doctors. When admissions tilt by race instead of merit, qualified applicants are passed over and public confidence erodes. Conservatives should welcome enforcement of the law that treats applicants equally, not as racial categories. If Ohio State is innocent, let them prove it in court. If not, the DOJ should force real fixes so future applicants face the same rules and the same standards. No one should be admitted or denied because of a box checked on an application form.
