he News: The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) filed a lawsuit against the Wisconsin Higher Educational Aids Board (HEAB) and HEAB Executive Secretary Tammie DeVooght Blaney to end a race-based quota for minority student enrollment at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW). To qualify for millions in taxpayer funding for medical training and research, the medical college must “make every effort to ensure” minority students comprise at least five percent of its total enrollment.
WILL represents Citizens Defending Liberty, an association of Wisconsin taxpayers fighting to stop their tax dollars from supporting unconstitutional discrimination. The lawsuit seeks to strike down the racial quota requirement and ensure medical students receive equal treatment regardless of race.
The Quote: WILL Deputy Counsel Rebecca Furdek stated, “Wisconsin should be opening doors for future doctors while treating every applicant equally. Instead, state law ties millions of taxpayer dollars to a race-based admissions quota. Every aspiring doctor deserves a fair shot and our clients should not be forced to bankroll unconstitutional discrimination. We’re suing to restore merit and equal treatment to our medical schools.”
Background: Wisconsin law requires MCW to “make every effort to ensure that at least 5 percent of the total enrollment” consists of minority students as a condition of receiving state funding. The complaint identifies nearly $14 million in state funding for MCW for 2026–2027. MCW also received over $428 million in federal funding in fiscal year 2025, meaning the admissions quota may also implicate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Taken together, Wisconsin taxpayer dollars support research and medical training at MCW, but only if the college works to meet the state-enforced racial enrollment quota. WILL’s lawsuit seeks to end that requirement and protect equal treatment regardless of race. Earlier this year, WILL secured a unanimous Wisconsin Supreme Court victory in Rabiebna v. Higher Educational Aids Board, striking down a race-based state program. That win opened the door to new legal challenges, like this lawsuit.
What’s Next: WILL asks the court to declare the racial quota and the law authorizing it unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The lawsuit also seeks a permanent injunction preventing future enforcement of the racial quota.
Other Challenges: This lawsuit builds on WILL’s efforts to end government discrimination, including challenges to the “Minority Teacher Loan Program,” Wisconsin’s “Supplier Diversity Program” and UW-Madison’s race-based scholarships.
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