Texas Tech Medical School Settles Lawsuit Over Admissions
Texas Tech University Health Science Center (TTUHSC) has reached a settlement in a lawsuit concerning its medical school admissions process, agreeing not to consider race in its decisions. The university, however, maintains that it has never used race as a factor in admissions.
The lawsuit, filed in 2023, was brought by George Stewart. Stewart, who had a 3.96 GPA from the University of Texas at Austin and a 511 on his MCAT, alleged that the medical school rejected him in favor of less qualified minority candidates. He claimed to have obtained data from Tech showing it accepted Black and Hispanic students with lower MCAT scores than their white and Asian counterparts.
In the settlement agreement, Stewart agreed not to reapply to or seek employment with Texas Tech and withdrew his claims against the school. In exchange, Texas Tech promised not to consider race in admissions.
Nick Barry, senior counsel at America First Legal, the group representing Stewart, stated that Texas Tech had been violating students’ Fourteenth Amendment Constitutional right to equal protection. “Divvying up Americans based on race only creates problems and solves none,” Barry said. “All universities should take note of TTUHSC’s decision and do likewise.”
“TTUHSC’s School of Medicine did not consider race in admissions decisions when the lawsuit was filed, nor was there any intention of doing so in the future,” university spokesperson Holly Russel said. Both parties agreed to pay their own attorneys’ fees.
Stewart’s initial lawsuit also involved medical schools within the University of Texas System, but he was required to separate it into two cases. He withdrew the case against UT schools last year, though he can refile. The Attorney General’s office represented Texas Tech but declined to represent the UT schools, which had to hire outside counsel.
This case is one of several filed by America First Legal and Jonathan Mitchell targeting affirmative action policies in Texas higher education before the Supreme Court ruled against affirmative action in 2023. Another case involved Texas A&M University, alleging discrimination in a faculty fellowship program. That case was ultimately dismissed.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has also employed America First Legal in multiple lawsuits, including those related to women’s protections in education and immigration policies. In some instances, America First Legal has worked pro bono.
