Ex-Duke doctor: I was ousted for resisting DEI mandates
Dr. Conger’s claim of being forced out spotlights a wider trend: amid a $108M funding freeze and tarnished hiring lawsuit, Duke quietly still pushes DEI content through postdoc training—even when the links go dead.
Dr. Kendall Conger, who worked at Duke Health for a decade, described joining an 'internal resistance' to DEI initiatives in an open letter published by The Magnolia Tribune.
A former Duke University Health System physician says he was forced out after resisting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) mandates, as the medical center faces a federal lawsuit and the loss of more than $100 million in funding tied to its use of racial preferences.
Dr. Kendall Conger, who worked at Duke Health for a decade, described joining an “internal resistance” to DEI initiatives in an open letter published by The Magnolia Tribune. Conger said Duke’s shift away from its high-profile DEI campaign underscores the risks for professionals who questioned the policies.
In his letter, Conger pointed out that Duke has removed its 2021 pledge to treat racism as a “public health crisis” from its website. The 38,000-employee system adopted a new 2025 statement of values with no mention of DEI commitments.
The change came after a federal lawsuit accused Duke Health of racial discrimination in hiring, and after the Trump administration froze $108 million in federal funding last month over alleged unlawful use of racial preferences.
Duke University School of Medicine received more than $551 million in federal funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2023, ranking seventh nationally among academic medical centers, according to the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research.
Conger said his dismissal has created ongoing professional difficulties, but insisted his story highlights the dangers of DEI mandates in medicine.
“As the country pulls back from the pernicious ideology of DEI, there are countless other people like myself who suffered the repercussions for refusing to buckle to the madness,” Conger wrote.
Conger is a practicing emergency medicine physician with an M.D., according to his professional profile.
Duke’s Postdoctoral Services resources page continues to advertise “Duke P.R.I.D.E. (Pursuing Respect, Inclusion/Intersectionality, Diversity, and Equity) Training,” listing workshops such as Trans 101, Asexuality 101, and a Pronouns Workshop from the Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity. However, the hyperlink for the training leads only to a null page, leaving unclear whether the programming is still being offered.
Duke is not the only medical institution grappling with federal pushback. In February, Brown University required “[d]emonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion” as a “Major Criterion” for faculty promotions, while listing “exceptional clinical skills” only as “Minor.”
[RELATED: UMD renames diversity office to ‘Belonging & Community’ as DEI programs face pressure]
Other schools have begun scaling back DEI programs. Harvard Medical School recently renamed its Office for Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Partnership and cut funding for identity-based graduation ceremonies.
Meanwhile, a July report from medical watchdog group Do No Harm found that seven of ten major medical education accreditors have suspended, eliminated, or declined to enforce DEI mandates since Trump’s executive order restricting race-based preferences.
“We are pleased that many of the accreditors responsible for injecting identity politics into medical education are backing off their DEI requirements,” Do No Harm Chairman Stanley Goldfarb said. “While these early results are encouraging, there is still much work to be done to rid our institutions entirely of the rot of racial politics.”
Campus Reform has contacted Duke Health for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
