EXCLUSIVE — The nation’s largest network for scientists and chemists is facing a legal challenge over a scholarship program that allegedly blocks students from applying based on race.
The American Chemical Society, or ACS, is facing a federal lawsuit claiming its ACS Scholars Program unlawfully excludes white and Asian students, reserving eligibility for “historically underrepresented” groups such as black, Hispanic, and Native American applicants. The complaint, filed in Washington D.C. federal court by the nonprofit organization Do No Harm, argues that the program violates the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
At the center of the lawsuit is a high-achieving high school senior who was instantly deemed ineligible after disclosing her multiracial background. Identified in the lawsuit as “Member A,” she holds a 4.34 GPA, a perfect ACT science score, and a 5 on the AP Chemistry exam. The lawsuit argues ACS shut her out solely because of her race.
The complaint describes ACS’s selection process as “racial gatekeeping” and states that in nearly three decades, “not one” of the more than 3,500 scholarship recipients has been a non-Hispanic White or Asian student. The complaint says the applicant was immediately blocked from proceeding after revealing her racial background.
“She received the following message and was unable to proceed,” counsel for Do No Harm wrote in the complaint, pointing to an automated system that it claims filters out applicants based purely on race.
“Racial discrimination is invidious in all contexts, including chemistry,” the lawsuit states, citing the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling against race-based college admissions Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard. “The Society enforces its racial and ethnic bar with scientific precision.”
ACS, which has over 155,000 members, was founded in 1876 and reincorporated under a congressional charter in 1937, granted by Congress and signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It moved its headquarters to Washington, D.C., in 1941, where it remains today. The lawsuit also notes ACS benefits from certain federal financial assistance, including government contracts and tax-exempt status, bringing its scholarship program under Title VI’s anti-discrimination provisions.
“The American Chemical Society is blatantly discriminating against aspiring chemists simply based on their skin color,” Stanley Goldfarb, MD, chairman at Do No Harm, said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “It is shameful for a congressionally chartered nonprofit that accepts tax-deductible charitable contributions to push radical identity politics in medicine at any level of education.”
In a statement on ACS’s webpage, the group defends its initiative to promote “diverse scientific leaders,” stating that underrepresented students “now make up a third of the college-age U.S. citizens, yet they earn about 18% of U.S. chemical science bachelor’s degrees and about 11% of chemistry PhDs.” The Washington Examiner contacted ACS for a response.
But the Do No Harm complaint contends the ACS program functions as a contract requiring applicants to agree to specific terms and that federal law guarantees everyone the right to enter contracts regardless of their ethnic background.
This case lands in federal court as the Trump administration is rolling back race-conscious diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives it deems as contradictory to merit-based hiring approaches. In January, President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14151, titled “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing.” The order eliminates DEI-related mandates in federal agencies and bars government contractors from implementing racial preferences.
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Do No Harm’s lawsuit against ACS seeks a court order requiring the organization to open its scholarship to all qualified students, regardless of race, as well as nominal damages. ACS has not yet publicly responded to the complaint.
“ACS should open its Scholars Program to students of all races,” Goldfarb said, “and we are prepared to bring the full force of our resources to bear on ACS and any organization that flouts the law to divide and exclude students from opportunities on the basis of race.”
