HPD Coalition Gears Up for Affirmative Action Challenges

AAMC President Jordan J. Cohen, M.D., opens the Health Professionals for Diversity Coalition meeting. Panelists (1-r): Richard Valachovic, D.M.D., M.P.H., executive director, American Dental Education Association; Wade Henderson, executive director, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights; Lisa Tedesco, Ph.D., vice president and secretary, University of Michigan; and Charles Terrell, Ed.D., vice president, AAMC Division of Community and Minority Affairs.

Re-ignited by the Supreme Court decision in Grutter v. Bollinger, anti-affirmative action groups around the country are promising to continue their crusade against racial diversity policies in the coming months. As a result of these latest challenges, AAMC re-established the Health Professionals for Diversity (HPD) Coalition. The coalition convened for the first time in three years on July 29 at the association's D.C. headquarters. The meeting, facilitated by AAMC President Jordan J. Cohen, MD, featured a discussion of the key issues surrounding affirmative action, and was attended by the prominent leaders of various health professions, civil rights, and education organizations.

"Despite the short notice, it's clear from the turnout - with more than 20 health professions-related organizations represented - that the timing is perfect," said Charles Terrell, vice president of the AAMC Division of Community and Minority Programs. "We have, on one hand, the very encouraging Supreme Court decisions on affirmative action and the value of diversity. On the other hand are the efforts of Ward Connerly and others to create barriers to implementing affirmative action."

The HPD Coalition was origin- ally formed in 1996 in response to challenges to affirmative action in California, Texas, and Washington State. The group's aim was to alert the public to the negative effect of eliminating affirmative action as a means of increasing racial and ethnic diversity in higher education and health care.

Just two weeks after the Supreme Court ruled on affirmative action, the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative campaign, led by Ward Connerly, launched a ballot initiative to end racial preferences in the state. Connerly said that the "crusade will not end with the state of Michigan. In the weeks and months ahead, we will be exploring the feasibility of undertaking initiatives in other states, cities, and counties across the land."

Another anti-affirmative action effort that would ban collecting any data on race is gaining momentum in California. The Racial Privacy Initiative, or Proposition 54, is set to appear on the next California state election ballot, scheduled at this point for Oct. 7. Similar efforts are being developed in other states.

With the threat posed by such initiatives in mind, Dr. Cohen proposed that the group consider both short- and long-term initiatives to protect affirmative action policies.

"First, we must address the immediate threats to affirmative action with targeted activities that advocate the benefits that flow from a diverse health-professions workforce and academic environment," he said. "Second, we have an ongoing obligation to educate and convince the public, policymakers, lawmakers, opinion leaders, and the courts of the need for diversity in the health professions."

Collaboration in tackling the issue crucial

Despite the Supreme Court's reaffirmation of the legitimacy of affirmative action, the community should keep in mind that the decision had a one-vote margin, said Wade Henderson, J.D., executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and one of the meeting's panelists. Henderson spoke about the political backlash that is emerging in the wake of the recent Supreme Court decision in Grutter, and warned participants of the chilling effects that initiatives at the state level could have on the ability of health-professions schools to use affirmative action.

A number of meeting participants brought up the importance of focusing on pipeline programs and not simply relying on higher education affirmative action policies to compensate for a deficient K-12 system. Lisa Tedesco, Ph.D., vice president and secretary of the University of Michigan and also a panelist at the meeting, spoke about the need to address the systemic problems afflicting the country's education system, especially the disparities at the primary and secondary school levels that undermine efforts to recruit capable underrepresented minorities into the health professions education pipeline.

Another point raised by HPD Coalition members was the need for universities nationwide that are implementing successful affirmative action programs to share their best practices and to use the HPD Coalition as a vehicle for doing so. "We need to show the legally defensible practices to our constituents," said Saundra Oyewole, co-chair of the Committee on Minority Affairs at the National Association of Advisors for the Health Professions, Inc.

Members of the coalition who are involved in other organizations working to increase diversity in the healthcare workforce talked about their initiatives. The Sullivan Commission, named for former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Louis W. Sullivan, MD, was one of the efforts cited. Composed of 15 health, business, and legal professionals and other leaders, the goal of the Sullivan Commission is to recommend policies that would bring about systemic change at America's health professions schools and ultimately eliminate disparities in the nation's healthcare system.

A consensus quickly emerged among the meeting's participants regarding the need for more collaborative activities between the health professions, including public education and advocacy campaigns, information sharing, and developing collaborative legislative and joint research agendas.

A planning meeting, organized by the AAMC, will be held Oct. 16 to establish a formal structure for the HPD Coalition.

- Suria Santana