On April 17, the UNC Board of Governors Committee on University Governance moved forward with a motion that, if successful, would likely gut diversity, equity and inclusion throughout the UNC System. This proposed policy change will not only affect the jobs of many personnel throughout the state but also poses an extreme threat to student activities and clubs dedicated to marginalized and underrepresented communities and majors focused on cultural and gender studies.
This monumental decision was made behind closed doors and publicly decided within a few minutes, a truly disturbing fact to consider especially when the communities that will inevitably be rattled most by this change were not able to be present at this meeting. Students who had attempted to attend were told that all available public seating was occupied, preventing them from entering. The manner in which the motion was passed, the lack of deliberation and the blatant obstacles put in place are alarming.
It seems lawmakers in North Carolina and the leaders of the UNC System do not see intersectionality as beneficial and present assaults on anything DEI-related to reinforce the straight, white hegemony.
"Equality Within the University of North Carolina,” as the new policy is known, will help push the façade that this rebranding of DEI is anything equivalent to what it once was. BOG chair Randy Ramsey said in a statement last week that, "We cannot require everyone to think the same way about race, gender, or any other challenging topic."
UNC is the latest addition to a string of systems considering repealing their DEI policies, and if the BOG votes in favor of the proposal, the System will join seven states with policies already in place.
The BOG’s attempt to reassign “equality” to the new policy seems like a veiled attempt to create a buffer before they dissolve any and all regulations of DEI at the institution as a whole. This surface-level rebranding of DEI isn't new; it also occurred at the University of Texas at Austin. Their Division of Diversity and Community Engagement was renamed the Division of Campus and Community Engagement. Shortly thereafter, the university eliminated the new office and staff, resulting in more than 80 employees being removed.
The University of Florida, a similarly prestigious public university, has experienced resignations from tenured professors specifically citing concerns over anti-DEI policies. UF’s situation is a cautionary tale, not a model. The anti-intellectual thrust of the Florida legislature has only exacerbated brain drain, a term coined for brilliant minds fleeing north, leaving UF floundering. It stands to reason that UNC will experience similar resignations of esteemed faculty, and students and the University itself will suffer because of it.
DEI is a fundamental aspect of education and benefits everyone, not just people from marginalized communities. Through DEI services, underrepresented students can find community and support at their institutions, and seek justice for a history of discrimination in higher education.
Black students were not allowed admission into UNC until 1951, and as of 2022, Black students only make up 8.3 percent of the undergraduate population despite making up 12.4 percent of the state. Other minority groups are similarly underrepresented. DEI efforts serve as one way to right the historical exclusion and discrimination of the oppressed, and getting rid of those policies and defunding the related programs will deeply affect further progress.
