The Chief Diversity Officer at Johns Hopkins Medicine stepped down this week, two months after she came under fire from conservative media and politicians for a monthly email blast.
Dr. Sherita Golden stepped down from the position on Tuesday but will remain a professor of endocrinology and metabolism.
Golden was criticized by right-wing media outlets for sending an email to staff that stated that the Office of Diversity, Health Equity and Inclusion's Word of the Month was "privilege." The email further defined the word privilege as "a set of unearned benefits given to people who are in a specific social group."
Among the social groups listed in the email were men, heterosexuals and middle-class people.
"Privilege is characteristically invisible to people who have it. People in dominant groups often believe they have earned the privileges they enjoy or that everyone could have access to these privileges if only they worked to earn them," the email continued.
The letter was circulated online by "End Wokeness" - a social media account that frequently shares racist and anti-immigrant content. Elon Musk, Donald Trump Jr and Maryland Congressman Andy Harris subsequently criticized the email's contents.
Golden retracted her comments and apologized for the email saying that the "intent of the newsletter is to inform and support an inclusive community at Hopkins, but the language of this definition clearly did not meet that goal." A letter from Johns Hopkins Medicine CEO, Dr. Theodore DeWeese stated that Golden made the decision to step down, WMAR reported.
"She has been a valuable member of the Johns Hopkins Medicine leadership team, and, like many of you, we wanted her to stay in her role, but we respect her decision," DeWeese wrote, according to WMAR. "This work takes courage, and we are profoundly grateful to Dr. Golden for her grace under pressure, her poise in the face of adversity, and her dedication to the mission and work of ODIHE."
Johns Hopkins Medicine Chief Human Resources Officer Inez Stewart will take over the position, during the search for a permanent replacement.
