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Youngkin's 'almighty creator' rhetoric in new diversity training offends some state employees
The governor's office says it's heard no concerns about it and the language was “derived from the Declaration of Independence and other documents from the United States’ founding fathers.”
virginiamercury.com
Youngkin’s ‘almighty creator’ rhetoric in new diversity training offends some state employees -...
A new diversity training from Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration includes two references to a “creator,” language that offended some state employees.
Youngkin’s ‘almighty creator’ rhetoric in new diversity training offends some state employees -...
A new diversity training from Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration includes two references to a “creator,” language that offended some state employees.
Link to tweet
GOVERNMENT + POLITICS
Youngkin’s ‘almighty creator’ rhetoric in new diversity training offends some state employees
The administration overhauled the mandatory course to include religious references from a former speech
BY: KATE MASTERS AND GRAHAM MOOMAW - MAY 11, 2022 4:28 PM
A new diversity training Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration enacted includes two references to a “creator,” religious language that struck several workers who saw it as inappropriate for inclusion in training material that’s mandatory for new state government employees. ... The Youngkin administration created the “Working Together for Virginia” video as its own attempt to comply with a 2020 law requiring the state’s human resources agency to provide an online diversity and cultural competency training course for state employees.
The “creator” lines appear to be drawn from a portion of Youngkin’s inaugural speech that was repeated in a later executive order that reshaped the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the governor’s cabinet. ... “Most of all, every one of us is made in the image of our creator,” the narrator in the training course says, quoting from Youngkin’s executive order. “Since the first settlers arrived a little more than 400 years ago, we have been an imperfect people on the course to a more perfect union. At times, we’ve truly failed to live up to our ideals, but we all want to do what is right and what is morally just, even if we fall short. What is seared in our heart by a loving, almighty creator is not a desire for power or conquest, not a love of self or personal advancement, rather it’s a belief that life is worth living when we serve a greater cause than self.”
Three state employees who spoke to the Virginia Mercury on the condition of anonymity to avoid job retaliation described being shocked to find religious themes in a training they were required to take. ... “It was an instant, knee-jerk, gut reaction that this is wrong on any level,” said one self-described agnostic employee. “I’m working for the state. I didn’t choose to go work for the church down the street where I expect this.”
The fact the text appeared to come from an earlier Youngkin speech, the employee said, didn’t make a difference. ...“It actually makes me even madder,” the worker said. “Because then it just seals the deal that this is just all his agenda being forced into government employee training.”
{snip}
KATE MASTERS
kmasters@virginiamercury.com
https://twitter.com/kamamasters
An award-winning reporter, Kate grew up in Northern Virginia before moving to the Midwest, earning her degree in journalism from the University of Missouri. She spent a year covering gun violence and public health for The Trace in Boston before joining The Frederick News-Post in Frederick County, Md. While at the News-Post, she won first place in feature writing and breaking news from the Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association, and Best in Show for her coverage of the local opioid epidemic. Before joining the Mercury in 2020, she covered state and county politics for the Bethesda Beat in Montgomery County, Md.
GRAHAM MOOMAW
gmoomaw@virginiamercury.com
https://twitter.com/gmoomaw
A veteran Virginia politics reporter, Graham grew up in Hillsville and Lynchburg, graduating from James Madison University and earning a master's degree in journalism from the University of Maryland. Before joining the Mercury in 2019, he spent six years at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, most of that time covering the governor's office, the General Assembly and state politics. He also covered city hall and politics at The Daily Progress in Charlottesville. Contact him at gmoomaw@virginiamercury.com
Youngkin’s ‘almighty creator’ rhetoric in new diversity training offends some state employees
The administration overhauled the mandatory course to include religious references from a former speech
BY: KATE MASTERS AND GRAHAM MOOMAW - MAY 11, 2022 4:28 PM
A new diversity training Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration enacted includes two references to a “creator,” religious language that struck several workers who saw it as inappropriate for inclusion in training material that’s mandatory for new state government employees. ... The Youngkin administration created the “Working Together for Virginia” video as its own attempt to comply with a 2020 law requiring the state’s human resources agency to provide an online diversity and cultural competency training course for state employees.
The “creator” lines appear to be drawn from a portion of Youngkin’s inaugural speech that was repeated in a later executive order that reshaped the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the governor’s cabinet. ... “Most of all, every one of us is made in the image of our creator,” the narrator in the training course says, quoting from Youngkin’s executive order. “Since the first settlers arrived a little more than 400 years ago, we have been an imperfect people on the course to a more perfect union. At times, we’ve truly failed to live up to our ideals, but we all want to do what is right and what is morally just, even if we fall short. What is seared in our heart by a loving, almighty creator is not a desire for power or conquest, not a love of self or personal advancement, rather it’s a belief that life is worth living when we serve a greater cause than self.”
Three state employees who spoke to the Virginia Mercury on the condition of anonymity to avoid job retaliation described being shocked to find religious themes in a training they were required to take. ... “It was an instant, knee-jerk, gut reaction that this is wrong on any level,” said one self-described agnostic employee. “I’m working for the state. I didn’t choose to go work for the church down the street where I expect this.”
The fact the text appeared to come from an earlier Youngkin speech, the employee said, didn’t make a difference. ...“It actually makes me even madder,” the worker said. “Because then it just seals the deal that this is just all his agenda being forced into government employee training.”
{snip}
KATE MASTERS
kmasters@virginiamercury.com
https://twitter.com/kamamasters
An award-winning reporter, Kate grew up in Northern Virginia before moving to the Midwest, earning her degree in journalism from the University of Missouri. She spent a year covering gun violence and public health for The Trace in Boston before joining The Frederick News-Post in Frederick County, Md. While at the News-Post, she won first place in feature writing and breaking news from the Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association, and Best in Show for her coverage of the local opioid epidemic. Before joining the Mercury in 2020, she covered state and county politics for the Bethesda Beat in Montgomery County, Md.
GRAHAM MOOMAW
gmoomaw@virginiamercury.com
https://twitter.com/gmoomaw
A veteran Virginia politics reporter, Graham grew up in Hillsville and Lynchburg, graduating from James Madison University and earning a master's degree in journalism from the University of Maryland. Before joining the Mercury in 2019, he spent six years at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, most of that time covering the governor's office, the General Assembly and state politics. He also covered city hall and politics at The Daily Progress in Charlottesville. Contact him at gmoomaw@virginiamercury.com
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