Commentary

This Florida Med School’s Trainings Are Extreme

  • By Do No Harm Staff
  • November 3, 2022
  • Florida Atlantic University Schmidt College of Medicine

Florida Atlantic University’s Schmidt College of Medicine is sinking into the radicalized abyss. That’s what we discovered after submitting several Freedom of Information requests to the college. Our digging turned up some of the most extreme and divisive faculty and staff trainings we’ve seen to date.

To start, FAU has two extremely offensive videos. The first is entitled, “What Does Critical Race Theory Have to Do with Academic Medicine?” and was presented on November 30, 2021 by Anita Fernander, Chief Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Officer at the Schmidt College of Medicine. It brazenly states that Critical Race Theory – which is grounded in racist ideas and encourages racial discrimination – “should be applied within academic medicine to provide context for understanding and addressing racial health disparities.” 

The rest of the video forces this divisive worldview on viewers, while leveling accusations of “white supremacy,” among other insults and untruths.

The second video is called “What Makes ‘Systemic Racism’ Systemic?” by Dr. Eduardo Bonilla-Silva of Duke University’s Department of Sociology. His presentation from January 28, 2022 hits viewers over the head with thoughts like these:

This is a slide from Dr. Eduardo Bonilla-Silva’s presentation. Full copies of the documents and videos obtained through FOIA are available upon request.
  • “In truth, the way that the police, as an organization, was historically developed in the US as an organization in charge of keeping class and racial control.”
  • “Whites, your life reflects and reproduces whiteness.”
  • “The moment you think you are saved is the moment that whiteness will get deeper into your soul.”
  • “Systemic racism is you.” 

In short, the video on “systemic racism” itself expresses racist views. And of course, it tells viewers about the “need for social protest.” What political advocacy has to do with medical education is never stated.

Through another Freedom of Information request, we found that Florida Atlantic University also uses training materials from the “Racial Equity Institute,” like many other medical schools. That includes a 3-hour presentation focused on the “structural and institutional nature of racism in America.” Unsurprisingly, these training materials are incredibly divisive and have more to do with radical identity politics than medical education. 

What’s happening at Florida Atlantic University’s medical school is embarrassing and extraordinary. The families whose students go there – and the taxpayers who fund it – deserve to know what’s happening. And they should demand that it stop.

Have you seen divisive and politically motivated trainings at your medical school? Please let us know – securely and anonymously.