Memphis Standard

U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn has addressed concerns regarding Vanderbilt University Medical Center's (VUMC) adherence to an executive order issued by former President Trump. This executive action called for the termination of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs in educational institutions. Blackburn questions VUMC's compliance, highlighting actions taken by the medical center to obscure DEI programs rather than eliminating them.

"VUMC has recently scrubbed its website of references to DEI initiatives at the institution, going so far as to password protect web pages tied to DEI and climate activism. Concerningly, though, offices such as the Office of Health Equity, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, and the Office for Diversity Affairs are seemingly still active," Blackburn stated in her letter to VUMC President Jeffrey Balser. These offices, the senator notes, continue to advocate for tackling systemic inequities and confronting structural racism.

Blackburn stresses that VUMC, having received substantial taxpayer funding—including over $66 million in NIH awards this fiscal year—bears a responsibility to direct these funds towards life-saving medical research rather than DEI initiatives. "In previous years, instead of using funding to advance core medical research, over $17 million has been invested in VUMC’s DEI and Belonging Program, which was formed to hire ‘diverse biomedical researchers,’" she remarks.

The senator urges VUMC to align with the executive orders, emphasizing a return to medical research and adherence to "President Trump’s effort to responsibly allocate taxpayer dollars and immediately cease all DEI initiatives."

Blackburn's concerns have been formally communicated in a letter to the university medical center, which she encourages reading in full.