In a first look at how the state's 16 public universities complied with the new diversity policy — which removed mention of diversity jobs across universities and subsequently put them at risk of elimination — the institutions' certification reports demonstrate varying approaches on how campuses chose to follow the new rule.
The University of North Carolina Board of Governors reviewed the reports on Wednesday, where they evaluated ranging actions that included diversity office closures and program changes. Millions of dollars were also redirected to student success initiatives, such as recruitment efforts and scholarships, as a result of cuts and realignments.
“The reports will be scrutinized far and wide. Some will say that the campuses went too far, some will say the campuses didn't go far enough,” UNC system legal counsel Andrew Tripp said during the meeting. “It's ultimately the Board of Governors that will judge campuses' compliance.”
In late May, the UNC Board of Governors revoked and replaced its 2019 diversity policy, which outlined several diversity jobs and their responsibility for coordinating DEI efforts across the system. What replaced it was a policy focused on committing the system to equality of viewpoints, freedom of speech and institutional neutrality — leaving diversity positions and programs in limbo.
Diversity efforts have become a subject of conservatives' ire on college campuses over the past few years, with the University of Florida and the University of Texas making national headlines for dismantling its diversity offices and cutting its staff. Diversity opponents say the practice can lead to discrimination against people with superior academic records but who do not fit certain DEI requirements which favor certain minority groups.
