BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The University of Alabama at Birmingham has discontinued a scholarship program for Black medical students after the Trump administration launched a discrimination investigation.
The Herschell Lee Hamilton, M.D., Endowed Scholarship in Medicine, established in 2013, was designed to provide tuition support for Black medical students who maintained a 3.0 GPA and demonstrated financial need. On April 11, donors were notified that UAB had decided to discontinue the scholarship and return the funds.
The cancellation came after the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights opened an investigation in February 2025, accusing UAB and five other colleges of maintaining “alleged impermissible race-based scholarships and race-based segregation”. The investigation followed litigation filed by the Equal Protection Project, a conservative organization that opposes race-based affirmative action.
U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon defended the investigation, stating that students “must be assessed according to merit and accomplishment, not prejudged by the color of their skin”.
The scholarship’s namesake’s son, Herschell Lanier Hamilton, expressed disappointment with UAB’s decision, calling it “ridiculous” and “unconscionable”.
The Hamilton scholarship was funded by private donations from the Hamilton family and others, with UAB responsible for selecting recipients. Some supporters argue that privately funded scholarships should be allowed to specify how funds are used, while critics contend that public institutions cannot use race as selection criteria regardless of funding source.
The cancellation comes at a time when the number of Black medical students nationally is reportedly at its lowest point since 1978, according to local medical professionals.
UAB continues to offer various merit-based scholarships that require students to maintain a 3.0 GPA, though these do not have race-specific criteria.