The Trump administration has frozen $108 million in federal funding for Duke Health, according to a senior administration official, after asserting a day earlier it was investigating “systemic racial discrimination” in the university’s healthcare system.
The federal funding encompasses Duke University School of Medicine and the overall health research and health care system at Duke.
The freeze, first reported by Fox News, comes one day after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Education Secretary Linda McMahon sent a letter to top Duke officials expressing concerns about “racial preferences in hiring, student admissions, governance, patient care, and other operations.” Those officials included Duke University President Vincent Price, board Chairman Adam Silver, and Duke Medicine Dean Mary Klotman.
The letter states that the administration has been made aware of allegations that Duke University and Duke Health are not in compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on race and nationality in programs receiving federal funding. It calls for Duke Health to “review all policies and practices … for the illegal use of race preferences.”
It also calls on Duke to create a “Merit and Civil Rights Committee” to work with the federal government.
The $108 million cut could be permanent, the official said, if Duke does not comply and is found to be in violation of Title VI.
Duke Health did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.
Trump has been making good on a key campaign promise in his second term as he’s worked to eliminate programs that boost diversity. The Trump administration contends that diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, “creates and then amplifies prejudicial hostility and exacerbates interpersonal conflict.”
After Trump issued a series of expansive executive orders banning DEI programs, the Department of Education in February threatened the federal funding of any academic institution engaging in DEI initiatives. That prompted many universities to scrub DEI mentions from websites, shutter programs and some to lose scholarship funding.
Proponents of DEI have criticized the moves, saying many initiatives are beneficial. Studies have shown college students exposed to more diversity have greater levels of cultural awareness and political participation.
The funding freeze comes as Duke and other major universities are experiencing heightened pressure due to cuts in grant programs at the National Institutes of Health. Duke has initiated a voluntary separation incentive and layoffs are expected to begin in August, according to the Duke Chronicle.
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