UNC System moves to eliminate diversity goals, jobs at public campuses across the state
-A Board of Governors committee approved repealing and replacing the UNC System's policies on diversity and inclusion at a Wednesday meeting in Winston-Salem. The full board will vote next month.
https://www.wral.com/story/unc-system-may-eliminate-diversity-goals-and-jobs-at-17-campuses-across-the-state/21383986
The University of North Carolina System's Board of Governors plans to vote next month on a new policy targeting diversity and inclusion efforts at state universities and eliminate positions related to diversity and inclusion.
A committee approved the new policy at a Wednesday meeting without discussion. If approved by the full 24-member board next month, it would repeal and replace the system’s existing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policy, which was adopted in 2019.
The item will be placed on the consent agenda at the May meeting, which is scheduled for May 23.
The change would affect all 16 public colleges and universities across the state, including UNC-Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University, plus the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics.
Earlier in April, a key UNC-Chapel Hill trustee with ties to Republican legislative leaders said he expected the university system to scrap some DEI policies. Not only are DEI goals and initiatives at stake, but several jobs and job titles are on the line. The new rules would require those jobs to be changed or eliminated by Sept. 1.
Members of the Board of Governors are appointed by the state House and Senate to staggered four-year terms. Both chambers have been controlled by Republicans since 2011, meaning all current members have been appointed by Republicans.
The current policy, entitled "Regulation on Diversity and Inclusion Within the University of North Carolina" calls for each institution to have a senior-level administrator as its diversity and inclusion officer. The current policy establishes "system-wide diversity and inclusion metrics and goals" and created a "UNC System diversity and inclusion council."
The new proposed policy rewrites the section entirely, beginning with the title: "Equality Within the University of North Carolina." It requires by Sept. 1 that each institution certify that it "fully complies with the university's commitment to institutional neutrality and nondiscrimination."
Further, it requires "a report on reductions in force and spending, along with changes to job titles and position descriptions, undertaken as a result of implementing this policy and how those savings achieved from these actions can be redirected to initiatives related to student success and well-being."
>Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, came out against the move.
“Our diversity should be used to highlight our state’s strengths, not our political divisions," Cooper said in a statement after the vote. "Republican legislative and university leaders who attack diversity at our public universities are failing in their duty to protect students while threatening our ability to recruit top scientists, researchers and innovators who power our economy."