UPenn Only Wants Woke Medical Faculty

Want to work at UPenn’s Perelman School of Medicine? First, you have to prove how woke you are. This blatant political litmus test is now part of the faculty job application process. This prestigious institution is just the latest to put divisive ideology ahead of excellence and merit in its hiring process.

A tipster clued us into this disturbing turn of events at UPenn. Applicants for teaching positions must now submit a “Diversity Statement,” which is exactly what it sounds like: A statement proving their commitment to the divisive and discriminatory concepts of “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.”

UPenn doesn’t want rhetoric. It wants applicants to show their track record on DEI: “In general terms, diversity statement should include past experiences and activities, and also future plans to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion.” The application guide asks a series of leading questions, too:

• What does diversity mean to you, and why is this important?
• Do you understand the university’s diversity goals?
• What have been some of your experiences either being part of a non-majority group, or interacting with diverse populations?
• How has your thinking about diversity actively influenced your teaching, research, and/or scholarship?
• In thinking about the different roles you have played, and will play, as part of your university service, what role has/will diversity issues play?
• What role do you believe that advising and mentoring play in working with diverse populations?
• Does your engagement with diversity help students prepare for careers in a global society?

The list goes on. The application guide even provides a sample “Diversity Statement,” which lists things like publishing articles on DEI, teaching “equity” in the classroom, and other blatantly woke activities.

The UPenn mandate applies to every part of the university. Yet when it comes to the Perelman School of Medicine, the inevitable result will be harm to medical educators. They must either pretend to believe in these blatantly political ideas or actively subscribe to them, making them less suited to actually teach at the medical school. Political orthodoxy is not a legitimate qualification for teaching, yet by pretending it is, UPenn will do great harm to medical education.