The University of Minnesota is closing its Center for Antiracism Research for Health Equity (CARHE), one month after its founding director announced her departure from the university amid accusations of plagiarism.
The center will close May 30, according to Melinda Pettigrew, the dean of the university’s School of Public Health. CARHE launched in early 2021 with a $5 million donation from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota.
“The University of Minnesota School of Public Health remains strongly committed to our values and advancing health equity, which is central to who we are and how we teach, conduct research, and engage with communities,” Pettigrew said in a statement. “We recognize the important contributions that have been made and we’re embracing this moment to reflect on what our community needs most, now and into the future.”
The center was founded by Rachel Hardeman, an internationally renowned scholar who researches the health effects of structural racism, specifically on maternal health. She joined the university as a professor in 2016 and was named to Time magazine’s list of 100 most influential people in 2024.
She announced her departure in April amid accusations of plagiarism and workplace issues at CARHE, although she said her exit had been in the works for about a year. Thursday, Hardeman released a statement criticizing the university for failing to support the center.
“The closure is not a reflection of CARHE’s work,” the statement said. “It’s a reflection of the University’s failure to support, protect, or sustain antiracism work when it becomes inconvenient. CARHE was never meant to be performative. It was meant to disrupt. And that disruption was too much for a system unwilling to evolve.”
In April, Hardeman was publicly accused of plagiarizing portions of a dissertation written by a former research scientist at CARHE, Brigette Davis, for a grant that was ultimately funded by the National Institutes of Health. She alleged the incident took place in 2019 but was not made aware of it until 2022, after joining the center.
Several complaints were filed to the university, but it appears Hardeman did not receive punishment. She has said the incident was an honest error.
