Announcement

On April 18th, 2024, the New York Police Department (NYPD) arrested over 100 peaceful student protestors at Columbia University’s “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” in response to orders by university President Nemat Minouche Shafik. The arrests have ignited a nationwide movement of college students setting up similar encampments to protest US support for Israeli military action in Gaza and to call for divestment of school endowments from corporations that profit from war. 

Alarmingly, however, college administrators have continued to escalate against peaceful student protests with violent police suppression, disproportionate disciplinary action, and undue censorship. Administrator-ordered police intervention on several campuses has led to more than 800 arrests of students nationally, with many police officers using excessive force. At the University of Texas at Austin, Governor Greg Abbott called on state troopers clad in riot gear to stop peaceful student demonstrations, while at Emory University police officers and state troopers reportedly used pepper spray, rubber bullets and tear gas on students, tased attendees, and wrestled faculty to the ground. Since November 2023, administrators have employed multiple intimidation tactics to censor pro-Palestinian voices, including suspending students to facilitate police arrests, banning student chapters of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), and even terminating physicians-in-training from residency programs.

National APAMSA condemns the brutal crackdown on academic freedom and free speech on college campuses across the country. We support statements made by organizations such as Asian Texans for Justice, Rise AAPI, Emgage Action, Stop AAPI Hate, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and Human Rights Watch (HRW). As a national medical student organization whose mission is rooted in principles of health advocacy, we stand in solidarity with all students exercising their constitutional right to free speech to advocate for human rights. As stated in a previous statement, National APAMSA unequivocally upholds the value of human life everywhere. We remain committed in our demand for a sustained humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza in light of the thousands of innocent lives lost, numerous attacks on healthcare workers and facilities, and restricted access to humanitarian aid.

We call on college administrators to resist political pressures to censor student voices and instead uphold academic freedom––encouraging students to engage in civil discourse on campuses without fear of punitive and disproportionate punishment. Removing peaceful protests using police violence under the guise of improving campus safety further endangers students and creates hostile learning environments. Reiterating previous statements, we likewise continue to condemn accounts of anti-Palestinian racism, antisemitism, and Islamophobia reported amid the protests. 

On March 19, 2024, Rep. Greg Murphy, MD (R-NC) introduced the Embracing anti-Discrimination, Unbiased Curricula, and Advancing Truth in Education (EDUCATE) Act (H.R. 7725) to Congress. The bill would amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 (P.L. 89-329) to prohibit graduate medical schools from receiving federal funding, including student loans and federal research grants, if such schools adopt policies and requirements relating to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). These policies include the maintenance of DEI offices and affinity groups, as well as the use of diversity statements. Rep. Murphy, the author of the bill and a practicing urologist, claims that DEI is a divisive and discriminatory philosophy that undermines medical education and results in a less qualified physician force. The bill comes amid an alarming nationwide political assault on DEI, as more than 80 bills restricting or regulating DEI in higher education have been introduced in 28 states and the US Congress since 2023. 

As an organization committed to addressing the unique health challenges of AANHPI communities, National APAMSA condemns the EDUCATE Act and will continue to support DEI policies in healthcare and health professions education alongside leading medical associations from across the country. APAMSA affirms that DEI neither exists in opposition to merit, nor does it jeopardize the quality of medical education––these are myths propagated to fuel a political agenda. While by no means perfect, campus DEI structures provide physicians in training the tools to address the health needs of an increasingly diverse population, providing learning environments that help students from various backgrounds overcome implicit biases that contribute to disparities in treatment and health outcomes. The evidence is abundantly clear: diversity in healthcare improves patient outcomes, and in effect creates a more qualified physician force.

National APAMSA unequivocally supports DEI initiatives in our policy compendium (Resolution 40.002) and in recent statements. Attacks on DEI in medical education clearly contradict a core tenet of our mission. We therefore reiterate our opposition to the EDUCATE Act and urge legislators to oppose HR 7725.