Members of Penn Medicine’s former Office of Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity expressed disappointment over the dissolution of a decade's worth of their DEI initiatives in interviews with The Daily Pennsylvanian.
Ophthalmology professor and Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics fellow Eve Higginbotham served as the inaugural vice dean of Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity at the Perelman School of Medicine from 2013-2023. Higginbotham spoke with the DP about the University’s broad removal of DEI policies and practices, as well as Penn President Larry Jameson’s role in developing Penn Medicine DEI initiatives.
“I'm disappointed in the dissolution of the office because we did have a wonderful foundation,” Higginbotham said. “I just wonder if there was some opportunity to reframe the work going forward.”
Higginbotham was at the forefront of a number of OIDE initiatives during her term, including a 2023 report on standard accountability measures for maintaining diversity across the department. She also described a “restorative practice” implemented by OIDE to counteract microaggressions along with an effort “to strengthen the presence of affinity groups” on campus.
“My office actually provided some support for the faculty who were leaders of those groups, as well as the budget,” Higginbotham added. “Having an infrastructure that included monetary support really helped to strengthen those organizations like the LGBTQ+ group.”
Supporting an infrastructure that “hadn’t really existed before,” Higginbotham arranged meetings between affinity groups on a quarterly basis to “share best practices and … advance greater collaboration.”
Higginbotham’s office also pioneered the Action for Cultural Transformation strategic plan to mitigate structural racism and contribute to the growth of diverse faculty within the University.
The “anti-racist” plan — which is described in a report titled “Addressing Structural Racism Using a Whole-Scale Planning Process in a Single Academic Center” — examines cultural shifts following the police killing of George Floyd.
“In the spring of 2020, the whole country was actually more highly engaged,” Higginbotham said. “In some departments, there were intentional efforts to ensure that residents, new residents who were selected were more reflective of the people in Philadelphia.”
A lead researcher on the report, Higginbotham was joined by a team of former OIDE members, including Kya Hertz and Corrinne Fahl.
Hertz, who previously served as associate director for OIDE, wrote in a statement to the DP that she “was deeply involved in providing learning opportunities and advancing initiatives that fostered a more inclusive and equitable environment across the institution.”
“Under Dr. Higginbotham’s leadership, the office played a pivotal role in embedding DEI principles into the fabric of Penn Medicine, ensuring that these efforts were not just programs but integral to our culture and operations,” Hertz wrote.
Hertz also emphasized the importance of the ACT plan, which she described as a measure to “align DEI efforts with institutional strategy” and “create more inclusive clinical and research environments.”
Fahl did not respond to a request for comment.
Penn President Larry Jameson and Penn Medicine Chief Executive Officer Kevin Mahoney are also listed as contributors to the report. Higginbotham told the DP that the ACT framework was “initiated in collaboration with Penn Medicine, human resources leadership, as well as the CEO.”
Prior to his role as president, Jameson previously served as executive vice president of the University for the Health System and dean of the Perelman School of Medicine.
Dwaine Duckett, who previously served as senior vice president of Human Resources for the Health System, also collaborated with OIDE. Duckett left the University in August 2024, and the DP could not reach him for comment.
According to Higginbotham, Jameson played a key role in the office’s research into inclusive medical practices.
“He was always very supportive, always very positive about the things that were being suggested to him by my office, which allowed us to implement a number of initiatives,” Higginbotham said. “He was very much aligned with really building a more inclusive platform for the institution.”
Jameson welcomed Higginbotham’s suggestion to consider using the terms “inclusion, diversity, and equity” while describing the office.
“It was initially Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. But as I became more familiar with the culture of Penn, as well as individuals with whom I would be interacting with and senior leaders, I suggested to Dean Jameson … to consider the title of [Office] of Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity," Higginbotham said.
Higginbotham said that it “was clear that leading with diversity would have been … offputting for some individuals …. The most important thing I wanted to do was to have an inclusive platform.”
She also cited the historic support of DEI efforts by University leaders, including former Penn President Amy Gutmann and University founder Benjamin Franklin, as “the reason” she came to Penn.
After more than ten years as OIDE vice dean, Higginbotham told Jameson that she hoped to retire. Together, they organized a search for her successor and Roy Hamilton — “an internal candidate” — was selected in April 2023.
Two years later, Higginbotham learned of the dissolution of OIDE from one of her former staff members, adding that said she “never heard directly from Dr. Hamilton.” In light of the University’s rollback on DEI practices and initiatives, Higginbotham described an “uncertainty” regarding the future of her work.
“You’d like to think that there is some legacy that's left, but to have it completely vanish is really very sad,” she added.
Higginbotham also noted the continued “great need” to combat “biased” and “inequitable” practices in healthcare. She expressed discontent for the vague language that replaced once intentionally specific policies.
“Without the intentionality, I just worry about the future,” she said.
Hertz echoed Higginbotham’s concern, writing that “these changes reflect a shifting landscape.”
“While it is disheartening to see structured DEI efforts being scaled back, the impact of this work remains embedded in the people and programs that have been cultivated over the years,” Hertz wrote. “The commitment to inclusion and equity does not disappear with structural changes—it continues through the many individuals and teams who remain dedicated to this mission.”
Higginbotham similarly hopes to preserve the legacy of the work of the OIDE through her published “peer-reviewed literature,” so that “if there is a will to actually bring back this intentional effort, there's at least some blueprint for it.”
“No one can take away the fact that we had an office,” she concluded.
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