UNC System board approves policy gutting DEI efforts at NC public universities

Programs and administrative positions supporting diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at North Carolina’s public universities are one step closer to facing potential elimination — or at least significant changes — following a vote by the board that oversees the schools.

The UNC System Board of Governors approved a policy Thursday that repeals the university system’s previous DEI requirements. Those directives, implemented in 2019, required each of the system’s 17 campuses to employ a chief diversity officer and work to achieve diversity-related goals, among other mandates.

The board approved the new policy, which emphasizes equality and nondiscrimination over the previous policy’s ideals of diversity and inclusion, as part of a dozen unrelated items on the consent agenda. A board committee took the first step to approve the policy at a meeting last month, doing so in less than five minutes and with no discussion.

The policy was included on the consent agenda for the full board’s approval, a normal board procedure for committee-approved policies that typically leads to the measures being passed with no discussion. But on Thursday, two members, Gene Davis and Pearl Burris-Floyd, spoke about the policy and their support of it prior to the vote. Two members, Joel Ford and Sonja Nichols, voted against the measure.

About 50 students from UNC-Chapel Hill, NC State University, UNC Greensboro, Appalachian State University and other schools gathered outside the UNC System office in downtown Raleigh Thursday for a press conference, calling on the board to vote down the proposed policy.

Five seats were reserved for the public at the back of the meeting room Thursday, all of which appeared to be filled by students.

Several additional students gathered in the building’s lobby, several floors below the one where the board was meeting. After the students were asked to leave, the confrontation escalated between the protesters and police.

The News & Observer was told by police at the meeting to contact a UNC System spokesperson for information about the incident. The spokesperson did not immediately respond to The N&O’s request.

Students were barred from entering the building where the board committee met last month to approve the policy, with system staff citing a lack of available seats in the meeting room as the reason.

UNC president says universities must be neutral in debates

Hans said in a written statement last month that the policy would not impact the UNC System’s responsibilities to welcome diverse students to its campuses. The policy and Hans’ statement say the system will continue to abide by state and federal nondiscrimination laws.

“We have well-established laws and policies that prohibit discrimination, protect equal opportunity, and require a safe and supportive learning environment for all students,” Hans said in his written statement last month. “We will continue to uphold those responsibilities.”

In separate public remarks Thursday, Hans emphasized his belief that universities must remain neutral, while allowing students and faculty to debate political and social issues.

“It’s good for college students to encounter liberal ideas, to become familiar with the best forms of progressive thought our society has to offer. It’s good for college students to encounter conservative ideas, to appreciate traditional perspectives and hear strong right-of-center arguments,” Hans said.

But he added that “it’s vital that college administrators stay out of it altogether.”

The new policy goes into effect immediately and directs university chancellors to ensure their campuses comply with the new directives by Sept. 1.

The Board of Governors’ decision to roll back the university system’s previous DEI requirements comes as part of a growing national trend targeting the efforts. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, 85 anti-DEI bills have been introduced nationwide since 2023.

What will happen to existing DEI programs?

The UNC System’s legal affairs division is expected to soon issue guidance for compliance to campuses. Until then, it remains unclear exactly what will happen to the wide variety of diversity-related jobs, programs and other efforts across the university system, but the policy’s language indicates that they will likely be eliminated or changed to remove their direct ties to DEI.

The policy states that campus leaders will have to report to UNC System President Peter Hans any “reductions in force and spending, along with changes to job titles and position descriptions” that result from implementing the policy, and how any “savings achieved” from those actions could be “redirected to initiatives related to student success and wellbeing.”

While the system’s legal guidance remains pending, there is already one example of how the policy will be interpreted at the campus level: The UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees last week voted to eliminate the university’s $2.3 million in annual DEI spending and divert the funds to campus safety and police instead.

Annual reports about diversity and inclusion efforts across the UNC System, obtained and reported by The News & Observer, showed wide variation in the amount of money spent on DEI programs at the system’s schools, the number of employees dedicated to the efforts and the types of programs used to promote diversity.

The system’s large flagships, UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State, employed the most people dedicated to the efforts, at 25 and 27, respectively. But the schools have separately stated that the amount of money they spent on DEI represented small fractions of their total spending — less than one-fifth of 1% at NC State, for instance — as is generally the case in higher education more broadly. Smaller schools in the university system employed much fewer DEI employees and spent significantly less money, compared to the larger schools.

The policy emphasizes “institutional neutrality” — the idea, enshrined in state law, that universities cannot weigh in on political matters or social issues — and prohibits any positions of employment, departments of employment or contractors from promoting ideas that do not align with the framework.

The policy could impact campus offices or centers dedicated to advancing diversity efforts, though it does appear to leave room for some to remain. The policy includes a provision permitting universities to “implement programming or services designed to have a positive effect on the academic performance, retention, or graduation of students from different backgrounds,” provided they comply with institutional neutrality and other federal and state regulations. The policy also directs campuses to ensure “that employee wellbeing remains a priority.”

“Non-discrimination, institutional neutrality, free expression, and academic freedom are all mutually reinforcing concepts and values,” Hans said Thursday. “We are here to serve all, not just those who agree with us. When these principles are faithfully held, they allow diversity in all forms to thrive.”

Programs supported by universities’ DEI efforts varied widely, according to the annual reports obtained by The N&O. Universities reported offering initiatives dedicated to recruiting underrepresented students, efforts supporting students with disabilities or veteran status, and a program at UNC-Chapel Hill dedicated to inspiring and supporting students who wish to become primary care providers in rural North Carolina, among several other examples across the university system.

Students protest board’s decision

The policy is not expected to impact student organizations, nor faculty members’ ability to teach subject matter related to diversity.

“These are all fine discussion topics for the classroom or in a student-led organization, and our proposed policy very clearly protects the right of faculty and students to tackle difficult and controversial topics in whatever way they see fit,” Board of Governors Chair Randy Ramsey wrote in an opinion piece for The N&O and The Charlotte Observer.

The policy also says it will not impact positions of employment, offices or training intended to ensure compliance with federal or state laws. That includes those dedicated to ensuring compliance with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, and the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities, among several other nondiscrimination regulations.

At the students’ press conference and protest before Thursday’s meeting, several students spoke about the positive impacts DEI programs have had on themselves and other groups on their campuses.

Pragya Upreti, a student at UNC-Chapel Hill, said the board was trying to erase the university’s history and its impact on minority groups, such as the fact that UNC’s campus was built by enslaved people and did not admit Black students until the 1950s.

“I wish I were here in the same alternate universe that the UNC Board of Governors lives in,” Upreti said. “A colorblind society where we had already achieved diversity, where we had already achieved equity and where we had already achieved inclusion. An alternate reality where there was no past to rectify. But ignorance is bliss and unfortunately, we’re well informed. We do not live in that alternate reality.”

Callum Conklin, a student at Appalachian State University, noted that, in addition to providing services to LGBTQ+ students and students of color, DEI programs also serve rural and low-income students.

“To allow the far right to frame this as a ‘woke agenda’ issue is to allow the far right to abandon any sense of responsibility towards the future,’ Conklin said. “They would abandon the children of the blue-collar worker for a taste of political control.”

Hans said last month that the university system would “continue serving students of all backgrounds and beliefs.”

“There is broad and deep commitment to that goal,” Hans wrote, “and support for the UNC System’s longstanding efforts to reflect the diversity of North Carolina.”