Shambra Mulder, the education chair of Kentucky’s NAACP, remains skeptical that UK has good faith in recruiting black medical students from Kentucky. She is aware that most of the current black students at UK College of Medicine are born in Africa or recent immigrants who pay exorbitant tuition fees to have the privilege of being a medical student at UK. Such a double standard makes us question the medical school’s true intentions.
Due to existing policies implemented by school administrators and failure of minority recruitment and retention efforts results in a tragic picture. A great majority of the black medical students end up paying much more than white medical students due to their out-of-state status, and they are systematically excluded from scholarship opportunities as a result of it. We recommend Department of Education to closely investigate University of Kentucky’s internal policies about minority recruitment. Minority recruitment trends at UK are very worrisome and very similar to apartheid.
Lachin Hatemi is a physician living in Buffalo, New York. His interests include human rights, racial equality and interfaith dialogue. You can reach Lachin at lachinhatemi@gmail.com.
Article Appeared @http://www.blackbluedog.com/2013/10/news/doctor-challenges-u-kentucky-medical-schools-poor-track-record-on-minorities/