Weill Medical College of Cornell University

In April 2021, the school announced on Facebook: "The Black Lives Matter protest last summer pushed forward the need to address systemic racism in academic medicine. In response, the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences (WCGS) reviewed the structures in place and listened to student voices to find new initiatives that encourage diversity, equity and inclusion in biomedical sciences. One of the anti-racism initiatives launched last year is the Social Justice and Anti-racism Task Force (SJAR). Commissioned by WCGS Dean Barbara Hempstead and led by faculty and student leaders, SJAR’s mission is to promote the success and proportional representation of researchers and clinicians from underrepresented minorities at every level."

On the topic of admissions, the medical college states the following: "With an exceptionally diverse patient population—clinical affiliates throughout NYC, rural NY and Houston, Texas—our student body must be reflective of our patients, and develop a range of cultural competencies. WCM is fully committed to accepting, enrolling and graduating diverse populations to serve the needs of our New York community and beyond."

The Graduate School of Medical Sciences’ Social Justice and Anti-Racism (SJAR) Task Force’s Social Justice Working Group will “Identify, implement, and evaluate anti-racism education for students and faculty. Gather feedback on new unconscious bias training.”

Medical Education actively engaged “the Anti-Racism Student Task Force, student body, teaching faculty, and staff in moving forward on multiple initiatives. We will introduce additional educational content related to racism, social injustice, and social determinants of health into the medical curriculum, and enhance academic support services for all students this coming academic year. We are also planning new and expanded opportunities for students to support and advocate for communities and patients who are vulnerable to social inequities.”

The August 2022 Weill Cornell Medical College Student Handbook outlines its Core Competencies and Constituent Learning Objectives which includes the following: "Describe how important societal factors, including racism, impact equitable healthcare delivery and patient outcomes."

The school launched “a new Trainer-Learner Committee to investigate, track, and document issues of student mistreatment, including incidents of racial microaggressions.”

The Graduate School of Medical Sciences’ Social Justice and Anti-Racism (SJAR) Task Force’s Social Justice Working Group will “Evaluate Current reporting mechanisms for mistreatment and increase visibility for the options.”

The school’s dean announced, “All faculty and staff will be required to complete anti-bias training within the next 90 days and on an annual basis. This 30-minute, web-based program will be released within the next few weeks. The training will provide all of us with the tools to recognize biases within ourselves and identify how they may affect our actions. It is an important step that will enable us to better understand each other’s perspectives and work toward combatting prejudice within our community.”

The school announced on Facebook in June 2020: "Juneteenth is now officially an institutional holiday for Weill Cornell Medicine. As we strive for social justice for Black Americans and an end to systemic racism, it is especially critical to pause on Juneteenth to reflect on how we, as individuals and as a society, can contribute to meaningful change in our country. We encourage you to set aside time tomorrow to reflect on recent events and connect with family, friends, and colleagues. More broadly, you can show solidarity by marching, voting, donating, or pledging your advocacy in support of the many Black organizations fighting for equity.

On June 5, 2020, the Facebook page posted: "Last night, WCM students and faculty held an online rally, "Conversations on Black: Impacts on Structural Racism on Blacks in America and WCM," during which students spoke out against structural racism in all of its forms and its impacts, including upon social determinants of health (SDH). Students ​strongly advocated for enhanced social justice and SDH education. The students called for greater attention and accountability to episodes of unconscious bias and its lasting harms and an increase in diversity of teaching faculty."

Weill's Facebook page announced in December 2021: "Louise and Leonard Riggio have gifted $5.6 million to Weill Cornell Medicine to establish a named scholarship for medical students with financial need who are Black. This scholarship is an expansion of the debt-free medical education program. The Riggio scholarship replaces that portion of the scholarship package that the student would receive regardless of race and increases the pool of funds available for eligible medical students, which benefits #WCM students with financial need."

The school said, "The Ritu Banga Healthcare Disparities Research Awards are designed to further Weill Cornell Medicine’s goal of becoming a national leader in advancing diversity, inclusion, and gender equity within academic medicine." The award "will provide funding for one year and will be available at two levels: Faculty - $50,000 each; Fellows and Postdoctoral Associates - $50,000 each."

The school has the "Cornell – Hunter Health Equity Research Fellowship." The school said, "The mission of the Cornell – Hunter Health Equity Research Fellowship is to provide postdoctoral training for researchers in primary care, inpatient care, and health services research focused on health equity."

The college's Health Profession Recruitment/Exposure Program is a ten-week program for "New York City high school students in the 10th and 11th grades, from underrepresented minorities in medicine" who are "given the opportunity to meet and learn from physicians and other health professionals at Weill Cornell Medicine."

The school’s dean encouraged “all department chairs and administrative department leaders to host in-person workshops focused on anti-racism, diversity, and creating a sense of belonging. The Human Resources Office of Staff Equity and Inclusion is available to help our chairs and leaders create customized sessions for their faculty, staff, and trainees. One such workshop, entitled ‘Departmental Conversations: Racism, Injustice and Driving Meaningful Change,’ was just announced and is available upon request.”

The Graduate School of Medical Sciences’ Social Justice and Anti-Racism (SJAR) Task Force’s Safe Space and Open Dialogue Working Group will be “Creating a Virtual Safe Space,” “Providing a Library of Resources to facilitate Open Dialogue and Grassroot Activism,” and “Organizing Open Dialogue Events.”

The Graduate School of Medical Sciences’ Social Justice and Anti-Racism (SJAR) Task Force held several events, such as “Open Dialogue on Systemic Racism in America.”

The school’s Student Life division hosted a “How to Be an Anti-Racist Book Club” event, on Ibram. X. Kendi’s book “How to Be an Antiracist.”

The school’s Wood Library offers an “Antiracism, Diversity, and Inclusion in Medicine” resource guide, which includes Ibram X. Kendi’s book “How to Be an Antiracist” and Robin DiAngelo’s “White Fragility.”

The school's Office of Diversity and Inclusion said, "Diversity Town Halls provide opportunity to engage in an ongoing and continuous process of examining how we can move the needle to better confront racism and inequality and to listen and learn from each other.The Office of Diversity and Inclusion Executive Committee is keen to share information, resources and best practices from across the community and network as we collectively foster an atmosphere in which individual characteristics are respected and where both differences and similarities are valued."

The school has a "Staff Equity and Inclusion Council."

The school hosted several events around diversity, equity, and inclusion, including "Diversity Town Hall- Climate Change, Health and Equity," "Health Equity Driving Radiology Care Transformation: The Future is Now," "Inaugural NYP Dalio Center for Health Justice Conference: Race, Racism, and Health," and "Precision Health Equity Program & Symposium."

The school has a "Diversity Rep" who "is also an integral liaison for the Anti-Racism Task Force."

The school's "WCM Samuel J. Wood Library's Subject Guides" have "helpful tools and resources on a wide variety of clinical specialties as well as topics such as EndNote, Preparing to Publish, Evidence-Based Medicine, and Antiracism, Diversity and Inclusion in Medicine."

The school hosted an event called, "Racial Justice: Transforming Academic Medicine During the Pandemic." The description partially reads, "Diversity throughout medicine – from clinical workers, to executive leaders, to the medical education establishments – is an essential component to achieve equity. Many medical schools have developed pipeline programs for students, and mentoring and career-development programs for faculty, to help achieve equity, and promote careers in medicine and research among those from underrepresented in medicine (URMs)... Distinguishing which programs are successful from those that have not been, will inform the CME learner how to best counteract existing biases and help achieve equity in academic medicine." The objective of the event is, "By the conclusion of this activity, participants should be able to list barriers to underrepresented in medicine students entering the field of medicine, list challenges and success factors for underrepresented students and physicians in academic medicine, and describe potential strategies for achieving racial justice and equity at Weill Cornell Medicine and in academia, in general."

The school said, "The Cornell Center for Health Equity sponsors monthly Health Equity Seminars alternating between the New York City and Ithaca campuses. This forum is intended to update Center members on each other’s work and provide an opportunity to obtain multi-disciplinary input on works in progress. Share your early ideas, design dilemmas, methodologist innovations, plans to address reviewer concerns and more on topics related to health equity research. Each session will be simulcast via webinar for remote participants."

The college has many "diversity organizations," including White Coats for Black Lives (Est. 2014) which "serves to dismantle racism in medicine and promote the health, well-being, and self-determination of Black and Indigenous people, and other people of color."

On May 1, 2023, Weill's Office of Diversity and Inclusion announced that the college was "awarded the Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award by INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine for the fifth year in a row, recognizing the institution’s exceptional commitment to diversity and inclusion." The award would be highlighted in the magazine's December 2023 issue.

The college's fifth annual "Diversity Week" took place between April 24-April 29 of 2023 and featured a lecture titled "Stay Committed to Equity and Justice in Health," which was delivered by the Chief Health Equity Officer and Senior Vice President of the American Medical Association.

The school appointed “an administrative director for the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, who will help to coordinate, consolidate, and oversee its many programs and functions.”

On July 13, 2020, a neuroscientist at Weill tweeted: "Now that Diversity townhalls have gone into summer hiatus, it's even more crucial we keep anti-racist discussions alive. This week @WeillCornell we'll have an in-depth and structured discussion on institutionalized racism in the US & how these covert forces influence our views."

On April 20, 2021, @WeillCornell tweeted: "Mark your calendars for the 3rd Annual #WCMDiversityWeek! Join us in celebrating the latest scholarships and initiatives related to equity and addressing the needs of diverse populations, anti-racism and social justice. See the full schedule of events: https://bit.ly/3aojiKw"

The school has set up a Twitter account for its Diversity & Inclusion Department. On May 3, 2021, @wcmdiversity tweeted: "Save the Date! May 7th at 5:30PM - The SOS (Safe space & Open dialogue for Social justice) Group invites our @WeillCornell community members to join the SOS Safe Space Gathering - India COVID Crisis Support."

Weill and Cornell also collaborate on another Twitter account, @cornellCHEQ, The Cornell Center for Health Equity. Its bio reads, "#CCHEq is a university-wide initiative bridging @WeillCornell and @Cornell campuses. #HealthEquity"

The school's Office of Diversity and Inclusion said, "Our institution’s commitment to social justice and anti-racism extends to all aspects of our mission and, to an even greater extent, to our daily activities."

The department of obstetrics and gynecology's residency program said, "Furthermore, we believe that fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion in our trainees are essential for achieving excellence in patient care."

On June 30, 2023, the college signed on to the Associated Medical Schools of New York (AMSNY) statement in response to the Supreme Court's decision regarding race-conscious admission policies, which stated the following: "The consortium of the 17 medical schools of New York State, is profoundly concerned that the United State Supreme Court decisions in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina will diminish opportunities for talented students pursuing careers in medicine and science. These decisions reject a longstanding precedent that recognized the compelling interest of ensuring diversity in higher education and may undermine recent advances to address inequities in medical education and research."