A gay high school principal, Richard Bilkszto, committed suicide on July 13 after two years of emotional turmoil stemming from an encounter with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) trainer Kike Ojo-Thompson.
Bilkszto, who was described as a deeply progressive man hailed for his focus on “equity” at work, was devastated when Ojo-Thompson turned on him during a session in April 2021 after he challenged her claim that Canada was more racist than the United States. In the audio of the session, Bilkszto can be heard saying that maybe Canada was not the bastion of white supremacy that Ojo-Thompson had made it out to be. He pointed out that public schools serving Canada’s poorest students are generally better funded than their equivalents in the United States.
Ojo-Thompson, a Toronto-based diversity trainer, cited Bilkszto as an example of “white supremacy resistance.”
The late principal’s family say his distress was only heightened when the superintendent of his school district, Sheryl Robinson Petrazzini, further shamed him in a tweet suggesting he was a racist. The tweet, since deleted, hailed Ojo-Thompson “for modeling the discomfort administrators may need to experience in order to disrupt ABR,” or anti-black racism.
The week after his death, Ojo-Thompson issued a defiant statement, claiming that she was the victim of Bilkszto’s suicide and that the incident is being weaponized to discredit and suppress the work of those committed to DEI. The school board and Ontario’s education minister are investigating Bilkszto’s death and whether the obsession with woke policies may have contributed to it.
Bilkszto, who was gay and single, was devoted to teaching and spent time in a tough majority-black school in Buffalo, New York. He recently retired to work as principal of Burnhamthorpe Collegiate Institute in Toronto. In April 2021, the school district hired Ojo-Thompson to carry out four two-hour sessions for school leaders with her firm, the KOJO Institute, charging $15,000 for each session.
During the second session, Ojo-Thompson claimed that Canada was significantly more racist than the United States. Bilkszto disagreed, but no one stood up for him. Bilkszto’s public shaming was compounded at the third session, where Ojo-Thompson said his comments were a “teachable moment.”
Ontario’s education minister, Stephen Lecce, offered condolences to Bilkszto’s family and friends, stating that no staff member should ever be subjected to harassment while in their place of work.
