EXCLUSIVE — A watchdog group filed a civil rights complaint against Oklahoma schools offering a federally funded scholarship catered toward Native American nursing students.
Northeastern State University and Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College are “discriminating against white students and other races they disfavor” through the program, medical advocacy group Do No Harm told the Department of Education in a Tuesday complaint obtained by the Washington Examiner. The public colleges “will distribute scholarships to Native American nursing students” to boost their representation in the field, according to NSU’s online description cited in the complaint.
The program’s goals are to “increase the number of Native American nurses,” “support Native American students pursuing nursing degrees,” and “prepare you to serve in Indian health facilities after graduation,” the NSU description says. The scholarship covers tuition, books, and living expenses, among other perks.
The schools’ communications teams did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s requests for comment. NSU previously said in an undated statement announcing the funds that “over 70 percent of the award” would go to Native American students. The Department of Education referred the Washington Examiner to the Department of Health and Human Services. The HHS’s Indian Health Service, which funds the program, declined to comment “on ongoing litigation.”
“NSU and NEO are excluding qualified individuals from rich learning opportunities based solely on race, regardless of their academic ability, skills, experiences, and perspectives and even if they commit to serving in Indian health facilities,” Do No Harm chief medical officer Kurt Miceli told the Washington Examiner. “Favoring one race over all others is not only unlawful and unjust but also discredits the value of hard work and meritocratic achievement that is critical to our healthcare-education system. Do No Harm urges both universities to reverse their discriminatory ways and recenter their nursing scholarship program around excellence and academic rigor.”
Do No Harm’s complaint asks the DOE’s Office for Civil Rights to investigate the schools, determine that their “brazen race discrimination violates” the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and consider getting the Department of Justice involved for legal action.
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“As the schools candidly admit, this nursing scholarship is available only to ‘American Indian students.’ Other races need not apply,” Do No Harm wrote. “That blatant discrimination is illegal.”
HHS has distributed more than $790,000 since 2024 for the scholarship, titled the “Northeast Oklahoma Recruitment and Advancement of American Indians into Nursing” program, federal spending records show.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
