A doctor who claimed he was fired from Duke University for criticizing a “pledge to left-wing ideology” has publicly condemned the college’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives as unproductive and politically driven.
Dr. Kendall Conger, who worked at Duke Raleigh Hospital for nearly 10 years, was employed when Duke University released a pledge against racism in 2021. Duke Health characterized racism as a “public health crisis” and stated that the school was dedicated “to overcoming the painful separations that divide us.” Conger felt the pledge was “somewhat radical.”
Conger explained to Fox News that “It wasn’t so much a pledge to better medicine, but a pledge to left-wing ideology. And so, I felt if I did not say anything, I was giving tacit approval to what was in the pledge.”
Conger expressed that he disagreed with the idea that racism is a “public health crisis” because the pledge argued that it was “guided by science.” He asked Duke Health for the research behind this claim, but the university failed to offer any clinical or medical data.
“I thought that was odd. It wasn’t something I’d recognized. I didn’t know where they were getting that data from. I looked a little bit and couldn’t find it, but I decided, well, they’re the ones who made this statement. Let them defend it,” he explained.
Conger also asked Duke Health why it prioritized equity over equality, to which the university did not answer.
“Our country, our whole vision statement of our society, has been one where we’re looking towards equality of the individuals, not of group outcomes being equal, which is what equity means,” Conger said.
Conger went on to explain that Duke Health stopped discussing with him as he asked questions because he shared the answers with his peers. He then wrote an editorial titled “Duke Health’s Antiracist ‘Pledge’ Is Not Guided by Science,” which criticized the institution’s actions.
Conger said he was then terminated, with a termination memo from Duke Raleigh Hospital saying he was “terminated not for cause” with his employment ending on June 30. The memo also said his behavior was “negatively impacting the emergency physician team, which could jeopardize the care of patients.”
“They eventually had enough with me and said I was being terminated, not for cause. So, I didn’t do anything ethically or medically wrong. It’s primarily they did not like my opposition to their left-wing ideology,” Conger said.
