{"id":2261991,"date":"2024-06-07T07:02:02","date_gmt":"2024-06-07T11:02:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/university-of-pittsburg-shifts-blame-after-firing-med-school-professor-for-criticizing-dei\/"},"modified":"2024-06-07T07:07:46","modified_gmt":"2024-06-07T11:07:46","slug":"university-of-pittsburg-shifts-blame-after-firing-med-school-professor-for-criticizing-dei","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/university-of-pittsburg-shifts-blame-after-firing-med-school-professor-for-criticizing-dei\/","title":{"rendered":"University of Pittsburgh shifts responsibility after dismissing medical school professor for DEI criticism"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Funiversity-of-pittsburg-shifts-blame-after-firing-med-school-professor-for-criticizing-dei%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2261991&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>In August 2020, Dr. Norman Wang, a medical school professor, faced\u200c backlash for a scholarly article critiquing affirmative action in medical education. He was removed from\u2064 his position, but the University of Pittsburgh was revealed \u2063to be responsible. Wang&#8217;s opposition to race discrimination\u200b led to a coordinated effort to silence him, raising\u200b concerns about\u2063 academic freedom and legal repercussions.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>In August 2020, the world of MedTwitter was ablaze with stories about Dr. Norman Wang, a medical school professor who was abruptly \u201ccanceled\u201d after he published a scholarly article critically examining the history of affirmative action in medical schools and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/analysts-democrats-3-5-trillion-spend-may-cost-5-5-trillion\/\" title=\"Analysts: Democrats\u2019 .5 Trillion Spend May Cost .5 Trillion\">graduate medical education<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>He was removed from his fellowship director position and forbidden from having contact with medical students, residents, or fellows, but that was just the beginning. After a lengthy discovery, the full picture of what was done to Wang has finally come to light.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-2132261220\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-93df3823d6dfa700bb45c04dc3c02af4 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-93df3823d6dfa700bb45c04dc3c02af4\"><\/div>\n<p>Almost as shocking as the school\u2019s conduct is its attempt to evade First Amendment liability through an elaborate shell game in which it passed the blame onto a partner institution it claims is not a state actor. As is clear from recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cir-usa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/wang_v_pitt-opp-memo.pdf\">filings<\/a>, the University of Pittsburgh was responsible for what took place.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Punished for Opposition to Race Discrimination<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Wang has been dually employed by the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) School of Medicine and by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) since 2008. Historically connected, Pitt and UPMC are closely tied by a set of relationship agreements. Pitt appoints one-third of UPMC\u2019s board of directors, and UPMC provides financial support to the School of Medicine. Pitt and UPMC together constitute an academic medical center; Pitt oversees all academic activity, while UPMC oversees all clinical activity. <\/p>\n<p>Wang, a cardiologist, sees patients at UPMC hospitals and publishes academic research. Until August 2020, he also taught medical students, residents, and fellows, and was the director of a fellowship program in cardiac electrophysiology.<\/p>\n<p>In 2019, Dr. Wang became concerned about new so-called diversity and inclusion initiatives that were affecting cardiology. Among these was a new diversity metric that the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) had introduced in 2019 to evaluate graduate medical education programs. In his experience, such programs encouraged illegal racial preferences and produced very few positive effects, even for the people they are designed to help.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-4e5a5219161b2dfaad5f5172b2959960 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-4e5a5219161b2dfaad5f5172b2959960\"><\/div>\n<p>With these concerns in mind, Dr. Wang wrote an academic article on diversity and the cardiology workforce, tracing the history of race and ethnic preferences in medical education. It raised questions about the legality, effectiveness, and wisdom of such programs. The piece argued from available data that the medical profession had failed to reach its goals of increasing the percentages of underrepresented races and ethnicities in the field.<\/p>\n<p>Wang submitted his article to the <em>Journal of the American Heart Association<\/em> (<em>JAHA<\/em>). After a rigorous peer-review process, <em>JAHA<\/em> agreed to publish Wang\u2019s article on March 14, 2020, as a 17-page \u201cwhite paper\u201d titled, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ahajournals.org\/doi\/pdf\/10.1161\/JAHA.120.015959\">Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity: Evolution of Race and Ethnicity Considerations for the Cardiology Workforce in the United States of America From 1969 to 2019<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Coordinated Response<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The article remained largely dormant until the end of July 2020, when a Pitt trustee (and a UPMC board member), Dr. Vaughn Clagette, learned of it and demanded action be taken against Dr. Wang. The complaint quickly reached Wang\u2019s superiors at Pitt: Dr. Samir Saba, the chief of the Division of Cardiology; Dr. Mark Gladwin, the chair of the Department of Medicine; and Dr. Anantha Shekhar, the dean of the School of Medicine.<\/p>\n<p>What followed was a coordinated effort by officials at Pitt and UPMC to suppress Wang\u2019s public criticism of racial preferences.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-a6670fc4eee76340afba031f919fddb5 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-a6670fc4eee76340afba031f919fddb5\"><\/div>\n<p>On July 31, 2020, Wang was summoned to a meeting with Drs. Saba and Kathryn Berlacher, both dually employed by Pitt and UPMC, to confront him about his piece. Saba criticized the article, falsely claiming it ascribed certain traits or characteristics to certain groups. Berlacher, for her part, called Wang a racist. <\/p>\n<p>Saba said, \u201cYou know what we are trying to do here, Norm.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>After some discussion, Wang said, \u201cI just wanted us to follow the law.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Saba responded by saying that \u201claws can change.\u201d And Dr. Wang was told he could no longer be program director.<\/p>\n<p>Following the meeting, Berlacher and her colleagues began posting negative comments about Wang on Twitter. On Aug. 2, 2020, Berlacher posted, \u201c@PittCardiology I\u2019m looking at you. What do we stand for? What do you think of this OPINION piece that misinterprets data and misquotes people? @JAHA_AHA this is scientifically invalid and racist.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>She then replied using the Pitt Cardiology Twitter account: \u201c@PittCardiology stands for diversity equity and inclusion across the board. This article uses misquotes, false interpretations and racist thinking to defend a single person\u2019s conclusion. We are outraged that @JAHA_AHA published this shameful and infuriating piece.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On Aug. 4, Saba and Berlacher notified Wang that he could no longer have any role in medical education and could have no contact with medical students, residents, or fellows. He was reassigned to rotations in outlying hospitals where such trainees would not be present.<\/p>\n<p>The next day, several faculty members, including Saba, Berlacher, and Shekhar, sent an email to <em>JAHA<\/em>, claiming Wang\u2019s article contained \u201cblatant scientific falsehoods and misquotes,\u201d and requested that it be withdrawn. Their assertion was false, but it succeeded. <em>JAHA<\/em> retracted Wang\u2019s article the next day without allowing him any input and even published its own abject apology.<\/p>\n<p>Although efforts were made over the next several months to defend Wang\u2019s academic freedom, including by Pitt\u2019s Tenure and Academic Freedom Committee and by the federal Department of Education, these efforts met with little success.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Wang filed suit in December 2020, represented by the Center for Individual Rights, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/michigan-charter-schools-sue-department-of-education-over-new-rule-that-threatens-them\/\" title=\"Michigan Charter Schools Sue Department of Education Over New Rule That Threatens Them\">nonprofit public interest law firm<\/a> where I am deputy general counsel.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Will the Courts Uphold the Law?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The current iteration of Wang\u2019s complaint asserts that agents of the university violated his right to free speech and retaliated against him for reporting on the unlawful use of race in graduate medical education programs jointly run by UPMC and Pitt.<\/p>\n<p>The university has used its relationship with UPMC to try to shield itself from liability under the First Amendment, claiming that Wang\u2019s professional discipline came from the private UPMC and not the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/litigation-is-likely-california-just-doxxed-thousands-of-gun-owners\/\" title=\"\u2018Litigation Is Likely\u2019: California Just Doxxed Thousands of Gun Owners\">state-run university<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This after-the-fact excuse has no weight. At no point in Wang\u2019s ordeal did his supervisors claim they were acting in their capacity as UPMC officials only. Indeed, they could not. Dean Shekhar, the dean of Pitt\u2019s School of Medicine who played an instrumental role in the whole affair, had no authority over the UPMC. Moreover, if followed to its logical end, that argument would grant the university extraordinary power to crack down on academic freedom.<\/p>\n<p>The evidence uncovered in discovery and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cir-usa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/wang_v_pitt-opp-memo.pdf\">filed<\/a> with the court in connection with the parties\u2019 motions for summary judgment strongly suggests the court should resolve all of these issues in favor of Wang. He was punished for his published academic writing and speech opposing discrimination by Pitt officials who never distinguished between their Pitt and UPMC roles.<\/p>\n<p>Imagine if a government agency could get away with violating your constitutional rights simply by denying it was acting as the government. It seems absurd, but that is what Pitt has attempted to avoid liability after it sanctioned a professor for criticizing racial preferences in an article in a prestigious academic journal.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-05a669548f8c93a90dccc566f7f927bb fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-05a669548f8c93a90dccc566f7f927bb\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">    \t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In August 2020, MedTwitter buzzed with the abrupt &#8220;cancellation&#8221; of Dr. Norman Wang, a med school professor. He faced repercussions for critiquing affirmative action in medical education. Stripped of his director role, he was silenced<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2616,"featured_media":2261992,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/7867084968_cc34829a5f_k-e1717613204505.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2261991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/7867084968_cc34829a5f_k-e1717613204505.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2261991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2616"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2261991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2261991\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2261992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2261991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2261991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2261991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}