Johns Hopkins University's head of diversity sent a “Monthly Digest” email to staff with a letter declaring that all white, Christian, and male people are “privileged.”
Dr. Sherita Hill Golden, the hospital system's chief diversity officer, also included “heterosexuals” and English speakers in the “privileged” category in a message to all staff.
In a section titled “Diversity is the Word of the Month,” Golden defines privilege as “a set of unearned benefits granted to people belonging to a particular social group” that operate at “personal, interpersonal, cultural, and institutional levels.” defined as “income''.
She provided a list of privileged social groups, including white, able-bodied, heterosexual, cisgender, male, Christian, middle-class or owning-class people, middle-aged people, and English-speaking people.
“Privilege is characterized by being invisible to those who have it. People in dominant groups either have already earned the privileges they enjoy or are in the process of acquiring them. They often believe that anyone can access that privilege if they make the effort to do so,” she added in the letter.
The Monthly Diversity Digest letter was provided to the following people: Posted to X account “End the awakening.”
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk slammed the diversity statement on social media, tweeting, “This has to end!” Mr. Musk is white, cisgender, speaks English, and is also the richest person on the planet.
Donald Trump Jr., the son of embattled former President Donald Trump, also condemned the decision, saying, “Corruption and racism in higher education is getting worse, and it's a sign that Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Penn[PI'salmamater)hastakenovervirtuallyalleducationalinstitutionsandneeds”Itendsnow”
Following backlash, Golden retracted her definition of privilege this morning and apologized to staff.
“The newsletter included a definition of the word privilege, which in retrospect I deeply regret,” she wrote in a memo obtained by the Daily Mail. “The purpose of the newsletter is to inform and support the inclusive community at Hopkins, and the wording of this definition clearly does not meet that goal.
“In fact, it was so simplistic and poorly worded that it had the opposite effect,” she continued. “I retract and deny the definition I shared. I am sorry.”
The newspaper has contacted Johns Hopkins School of Medicine for comment.
