Dr. Sherita H. Golden, chief diversity officer at Johns Hopkins Medicine, does not appear to be facing discipline over her definition of “privilege” that was published in the school’s newsletter, despite intense backlash that forced the institution’s leaders to “repudiate” the language.
When Fox News Digital asked the school on Sunday whether Golden would face disciplinary action, a spokesperson doubled down on Golden’s apology, saying in an emailed statement that Golden has “sincerely acknowledged” the mistake.
“The January edition of the monthly newsletter from the Johns Hopkins Medicine Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Health Equity used language that contradicts the values of Johns Hopkins as an institution,” a Johns Hopkins Medicine spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “Dr. Sherita Golden, Johns Hopkins Medicine’s Chief Diversity Officer, has sincerely acknowledged this mistake and retracted the language used in the message.”
The original newsletter claimed that “males,” “White people,” “middle-aged people” and “able-bodied people,” among other groups, benefit from “privilege,” which was the “Diversity Word of the Month” for the January 2024 issue of its Monthly Diversity Digest.
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Johns Hopkins faced a backlash over a diversity newsletter that offered a definition of “privilege.” (iStock)
“Privilege is an unearned benefit given to people who are in a specific social group. Privilege operates on personal, interpersonal, cultural and institutional levels, and it provides advantages and favors to members of dominant groups at the expense of members of other groups,” the newsletter read.
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On Thursday, Golden apologized and said she “deeply” regretted the “overly simplistic and poorly worded” newsletter, which she said “had the opposite effect of being exclusionary and hurtful to members of our community.”
Leaders at the institution wrote in a letter to the community last week that they fully supported Golden’s apology and her decision to retract the definition, adding that they also “repudiate this language.”
Fox News’ Brie Stimson contributed to this report.
