Fate of UNC Diversity, Equity and Inclusion program participants remain unclear

Following the disbandment of the University Office for Diversity and Inclusion and UNC System-wide Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policy changes, some student participants shared their perspectives, unsure of what the continuation of DEI programs will look like at UNC.

Sophomore and 2024-25 accepted DEI Fellow Veda Muppala received an email about the future of the DEI Fellows program on Tuesday, the first communication since an Aug. 16 announcement indefinitely postponing a scheduled retreat.

In the email, a member of the UNC Diversity and Inclusion office communicated plans about a meeting for members to “discuss other potential programs that [they] may wish to connect with here at Carolina.”

In a media opportunity on Sept. 12, Vice Provost Leah Cox, the former vice provost for equity and inclusion and chief diversity officer, said that many programs previously in the D&I Office are housed under other reporting structures, but are still standing. Cox said that support for BIPOC — Black, Indigenous and people of color — students was certainly still there.

Cox also said that DEI fellows would be working under the Office of Student Affairs, saying that the program would change, “but still serve our students in terms of them learning about how to work in programs that support diversity and inclusion initiatives.”

According to the D&I Office's website, which remains online after the office's dissolution, the DEI Fellowship is a one-year program aimed at sophomores and juniors that allows those selected to facilitate diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging at UNC and in their communities. Chosen fellows are set to engage in skill development, active learning and career networking.

“I wanted to be able to build my DEI skills on campus and foster meaningful dialogue, inclusivity and representation,” Muppala said. “Through [the program], I thought I would be able to do that.”

Project Uplift, another program that operated under the D&I Office, promotes college access for underrepresented high school seniors through a day-long summer session. Uplift PLUS, an extension of the program, hosts an additional two-week session for those selected.

UNC senior Ben Neill was a student ambassador at the office and planned to be a counselor with Project Uplift this summer. Neill was one of the employees in the program to resign after the policy changes.

“At the time, we didn't know whether the office would exist or not, and, clearly, now it does not,” Neill said. “We didn't feel like it was right or comfortable telling students about the great things our office does, the great programs that would be available to them if they came to UNC, when we weren't aware if those things would be here.”

Neill and three other student employees from the department released a statement on May 31 explaining the reason for their resignations.

“We will not stand by and let Project Uplift be used as a tool for deceit,” the statement read.

Cox previously oversaw the DEI Fellows and Project Uplift programs.

“I do understand that this [morning's] decision by the NC Board of Governors was hurtful and painful, it does not align with the Carolina that you have come to know,” Cox wrote to Project Uplift counselors in a May 23 email obtained by The Daily Tar Heel.

In the email, Cox wrote that she was very certain Project Uplift would continue and she hoped student involvement would continue to shape the program.

In the Sept. 12 media opportunity, Cox said that Project Uplift and Uplift PLUS would continue, now operating as an Upward Bound program reporting to the Office of the Provost.

Former Project Uplift counselor and current UNC senior Elizabeth Ballou said prior to the first staff training for this summer’s sessions, there was discourse among employees about how to react to the repeal of the DEI policy.

Ballou said employees were faced with an ethical question: Should they be firm in their opposition of the administration’s decisions, or be there to support the students that had already signed up for the summer?

“That really divided a lot of people,” Ballou said. “There were 30 counselors in total, and I believe 25 of us resigned that day.”

Neill said that after the wave of resignations, diversity and inclusion administrators such as Cox scrambled to staff this summer’s Project Uplift sessions with inexperienced employees.

He also said that the new restrictions turned Project Uplift into a glorified campus tour, saying that it lacked its usual Culture Show and Tar Heel Talks, two cornerstones of the program.

Media Relations wrote in a statement to The DTH that while a few student counselors resigned from the program in May, replacements were quickly hired and the program continued successfully.

Media Relations also wrote that Chancellor Lee Roberts addressed Project Uplift on May 16 at the Board of Trustees media availability.

“I haven't heard anyone say that the final [DEI] policy will require us to do anything about Project Uplift,” Roberts said. “I think it's a terrific program that needs to be supported.”

Ballou said she doesn’t feel Project Uplift can function under new guidelines.

“[Roberts is] contradicting himself if he's saying ‘I want this program about diversity and inclusion to stay, however, I want to also roll back this program that it should be under,’” Ballou said.

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