Inside the woke medical programs at ‘very progressive’ Texas Christian University
June 24, 2026
TCU professor Aesha John told an AIM investigator that her university’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programming hasn’t been deterred by President Trump’s executive orders or state policies.
Instead, John said the nursing and health science program is actually “growing our curriculum related to DEI.”
John explained that, “Over time, we have become even more intentional about being race conscious.” As one example, she asked, “If a white scholar is doing research, how does that impact the findings?”
In addition, the associate professor explained how much she values discussions of race in classes focused on health, telling us, “I teach research where I can easily not talk about those things, but I make a conscious effort to talk about those things also.”
As a private university, TCU is not governed by the University of Texas System Board of Regents. But even private schools rely on various grants and funding from federal sources. And even private schools are subject to Title VI complaints.
“We are Christian, but in a lot of ways we are not. I think we are very progressive,” Associate Professor Aesha John in TCU’s Harris College said on hidden camera.
“I think Baylor has employees sign a statement about abiding by Christian values. At TCU, we do no such thing.”
According to John, “It’s just been pretty much business as usual. We are still teaching what we were teaching pre-election. And we talk about gender issues and pretty much all DEI-related issues. We still offer a class on diversity and social justice.”
She added that the university has not given the program any directions to alter its courses or their names.
John also explained how one of her professor colleagues uses an “inclusive” grading system called “ungrading.” This professor doesn’t grade students throughout the semester, opting to have conversations with each student at the end and “collaboratively” agreeing on a grade.
John said that “students from marginalized communities do really well with that kind of ungrading approach, versus using a common yardstick for all students.”
Since taking office, President Trump has signed several executive orders aimed at preventing taxpayer dollars from going towards woke DEI. TCU notably receives federal funding through research grants and student financial aid, among other things.
John told AIM’s journalist that the university did do some polishing overall, taking down some websites. But underneath the surface, DEI indoctrination is still going strong, especially within the social work program.
Surprised that this is happening at a private and supposedly Christian university? Take action now by visiting DEIInTexas.com and sending one message that goes directly to all relevant parties. Tell them that nursing and medical programs should be focused on patient care, not radical politics.