When the Trump Administration accused Duke University of racist practices and threatened to pull federal funding this week, no specific allegations were made public.

Federal officials only said that “allegations have been brought” to their attention that, if credible, could “render Duke Health unfit for any further financial relationship with the federal government.”

But a federal complaint against the elite university from a nonprofit opposing diversity programs in medicine makes much more specific allegations.

Do No Harm, a group that claims to “safeguard healthcare from ideological threats,” filed a complaint against Duke Medical in March urging federal officials to open a civil rights investigation against the university.

The complaint lists Duke policies and programs that the group believes violates the Civil Rights Act. Those include initiatives that expanded the medical school’s minority enrollment and the school’s “Minority Recruitment and Retention Committee.”

When asked whether the federal regulators’ investigation into Duke was spurred by Do No Harm’s complaint, DHHS Press Secretary Vianca N. Rodriguez Feliciano told The News & Observer the agency does not comment on active investigations.

When the N&O asked whether the university knew about the earlier complaint — and if it was a catalyst for the federal investigation — a Duke Health spokesperson said they would look into it and give an update once they “have something to share.”

Do No Harm did not return the N&O’s questions about its complaint.

But it’s not the first time the group has taken action against entities that go against its mission. The group sued the University of California at Los Angele’s medical school along with the Society of Military Orthopedic Surgeons for similar diversity initiatives.

The Do No Harm complaint

Since taking office, President Donald Trump’s administration has aggressively targeted institutions and public agencies with diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

That includes handing down an executive order that forced the University of North Carolina system to remove DEI class requirements. That’s a stark difference from former President Joe Biden’s administration, which tasked federal agencies to prioritize hiring from underserved communities, according to reporting from NPR.

The group urged the DHHS to open an investigation under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act in their complaint. In the letter sent to Duke on July 28, federal officials noted if true, the allegations brought to their attention would violate the Civil Rights Act.

Duke incorporates “unlawful race-based discrimination in its programs and policies,” according to Do No Harm’s March complaint to the DHHS.

Things like a “second-look” visiting program where minority students are offered “additional interviews, networking, and favoritism not available to disfavored races,” funding for events and special scholarships for applicants from underserved students were the focus of Do No Harm’s complaint.

The document includes links to various Duke policies cited by the group, many of which lead to blank landing pages or reroute users to the main medical school page.

One example champions the claims of Kendell Conger, an emergency medicine doctor who in 2024 claimed he was unfairly fired for speaking out against a Duke diversity, equity and inclusion policy. In 2021, when Duke launched an anti-racism statement that allegedly named racism a “public health crisis,” Conger asked for evidence and clarification supporting that claim, according to Do No Harm’s complaint.

Conger wrote an op-ed about the pledge that allegedly got him fired from the university, the complaint claims.

His story was the focus of conservative media organizations including Fox News and The Carolina Journal.

Duke University drew more criticism from DEI opponents last year when conservative commentator Ben Shapiro criticized a video call during which Dr. Vignesh Raman described changes the school had made since 2020 to promote more diversity in its surgeon residency program. These steps, according to Raman, included the school taking a more “holistic review” of applicants and removing “automated screens” that had immediately removed applicants in the past.

“It’s something we’ve been consciously, deliberately working hard to change over the last several years,” Raman said in the video call.

In February 2024, Shapiro wrote a story asserting these policies endangered lives. Tech Billionaire Elon Musk commented “People will die because of this” under one of Shapiro’s X posts about Duke’s policy.

The next month, Duke Health pushed back, writing in a statement that it had “not lowered its standards for medical school admission or graduation, and continues to rely on GPA and MCAT scores, among other criteria.”

“Achieving health equity while recruiting diverse talent within our education and training programs allows us to deliver the highest quality care to our patients,” the statement continued. “And makes Duke a world leader in innovative and transformative research.”

What is Do No Harm?

Do No Harm is a Virginia-based nonprofit organization, according to its tax filings. The group was placed on the Southern Poverty Law Center’s 2024 Anti-LGBTQ+ Hate Group list.

Content on the group’s website is a mix of articles opposing gender-affirming care and diversity initiatives.

It has filed federal lawsuits against UCLA’s medical school and the University of Pennsylvania Health System alleging similar claims to those against Duke.

The May complaint against UCLA alleges race-based discrimination in the admissions process. The group called it “intentional racial balancing” and claimed a decline in white and Asian applicants that were ultimately admitted to the medical school from 2020 to 2023.

“We believe in making healthcare better for all – not undermining it in pursuit of a political agenda,” the group’s website states. “Do No Harm seeks to highlight and counteract divisive trends in medicine, such as ‘Diversity, Equity and Inclusion’ and youth-focused gender ideology.”

Kristina Rasmussen is Do No Harm’s executive director – and is listed as the group’s principal officer on its IRS tax filings. Prior to Do No Harm, Rasmussen was a contributor to the right-leaning National Review and served as chief of staff to former Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner.

Stanley Goldfarb, a doctor and former professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s medical school, helped found the organization, according to its website. He has authored articles on “the threats to medical education and medical care in the United States posed by introduction of critical race theory.”

Do No Harm has also filed a lawsuit against the Society of Military Orthopedic Surgeons for allegedly partnering with the United States Navy to “implement a race-based service-learning program that discriminates against white, male medical students.”

That program was canceled – with traces of it scrubbed from the society’s website, according to a joint dismissal court document filed in federal court.

The case was dismissed “with prejudice”; the society agreed that if it revives the program it will “be equally open to all students, regardless of race or ethnicity.”

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News & Observer reporter Brian Gordon contributed to this reporting.

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