The prestigious George Washington University in the US capital is hosting a seminar on ‘Christian privilege.’ The premise that white Christians benefit from “built-in advantages” in the US has sparked fury on social media.
The ‘Excellence in Leadership’ workshop is titled ‘Christian Privilege: But Our Founding Fathers Were All Christian, Right?!’ According to the university website, it will explore how Christians have an “easier” life than non-Christians in the US and benefit from “unmerited perks from institutions and systems all across our country.”
By the end of the session, participants will be able to identify “at least three examples of Christian privilege” and “at least three ways to be an ally with a non-Christian person.”
In addition to religion, the workshop focuses on race, offering exploration of “white privilege.” It is scheduled for Thursday, April 5, just days after the Easter holiday in the US.
The class is the brainchild of trainer Timothy Kane from the Multicultural Student Services Center at George Washington University (GWU).
And if atoning for their “Christian privilege” is not enough, GWU students also have the chance to attend similar training sessions on “heterosexual privilege” and “cisgender privilege.”
GWU is one of the most prestigious universities in the US, chartered by Congress in 1821 in accordance with the wishes of the first US president to have a national university in the capital. It is located just a few blocks north of the State Department.
GWU is also expensive: undergraduate students cough up about $55,140 in tuition and fees for each academic year. The workshops are funded in part from these fees.
A fierce backlash against the seminar is brewing on Twitter, with one user lambasting it as “intolerance at its best.”
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