UConn Med backs down from DEI oath for students after legal warning letter: watchdog

The University of Connecticut School of Medicine clarified Tuesday it would not require students to recite a diversity, equity and inclusion-flavored version of the Hippocratic Oath, according to a watchdog who called out the taxpayer-funded school two months ago for the apparently mandatory recitation at its "white coat" ceremony.

"UConn’s medical school does not mandate nor monitor a student’s reciting of all or part of our Hippocratic Oath, nor do we discipline any student for choosing to not recite the oath or any part of it," according to an email the school sent the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, as relayed by FIRE Tuesday to Just the News.

"UConn's medical students can now rest assured that they needn't sacrifice their ideas or beliefs to practice medicine. Forced ideological oaths have no place on campus, and FIRE will continue to fight against compelled speech," FIRE Program Counsel Ross Marchand said.

FIRE spokesperson Jack Whitten said UConn did not convey how it's communicating to students the DEI oath is voluntary and not monitored. UConn did not immediately answer a query from Just the News on that question.