Johns Hopkins slammed over diversity blacklist branding Christians ‘privileged’

A diversity officer at one of America’s top universities has come under fire for labelling Christians and ‘cisgender’ people “privileged”.

In January’s Diversity Word of the Month to staff at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Chief Diversity Officer Dr Sherita Golden listed several “dominant” social groups which receive “a set of unearned benefits”.

After a backlash on social media, Dr Golden withdrew the “overly simplistic and poorly worded” definition of privilege and apologised for the hurt caused.

‘Toxic culture’

Kristina Rasmussen, Executive Director of the medical campaign group Do No Harm, said: “Johns Hopkins needs to completely eliminate their DEI [Diversity, Equity and Inclusion] department and channel those resources toward the primary objective of preparing the next generation of healthcare professionals to give the highest quality care to all patients.

“They have created a toxic culture rooted in a DEI ideology that demonizes and indoctrinates the very students they’re tasked with training to become the next generation of medical professionals.”

Speaking to The Daily Mail, a university spokesperson explained that the newsletter “used language that contradicts the values of Johns Hopkins as an institution” and Dr Golden “sincerely acknowledged this mistake and retracted the language”.

‘Erasing women’

Last year, Johns Hopkins pulled its online ‘inclusive’ language guide following another public outcry.

Updated in October 2022, the university’s “LGBTQ Glossary” was removed “pending review” after it was criticised for defining a lesbian as a “non-man attracted to non-men”.

Prominent lesbian campaigner Martina Navratilova branded the revision “pathetic” and another example of the “erasure of women”.

And JK Rowling commented: “Man: no definition needed. Non-man (formerly known as woman): a being definable only by reference to the male. An absence, a vacuum where there’s no man-ness.”