Diversity, equity, and inclusion ideology is set to be gutted at the University of North Carolina system, as the governing board of all 17 schools in the system voted Thursday to repeal and replace DEI with a new focus on equality and nondiscrimination.
DEI ideology has spread across higher education in recent years, creating a massive bureaucracy that enforces race- and gender-based frameworks for hiring, admissions, and every other area of operation. UNC has become the latest in a growing trend of states and schools to start unwinding the initiatives and staff that push them.
“Non-discrimination, institutional neutrality, free expression, and academic freedom are all mutually reinforcing concepts and values,” UNC system President Peter Hans said, according to the Raleigh News & Observer. “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.”
The UNC Board of Governors, which oversees the system, voted to approve a new policy that is set to replace a policy adopted in 2019 that required every school in the system to have a chief diversity officer to implement the ideology. The new policy puts a premium on “nondiscrimination in employment practices,” ensuring “equality of all persons & viewpoints,” and a “commitment to freedom of speech and expression,” among a host of other items.
The new policy goes into effect immediately, but schools under the UNC system would be required to comply with the policy by Sept. 1. The legal team of the UNC system is expected to provide guidance to schools on how to comply.
As the Washington Examiner reported, the UNC system was spending $90 million per year on DEI-related salaries for nearly 700 staff members. Until the guidance comes out, it is unclear what will happen to those staff positions, but the policy suggests that those positions will at the very least have their direct ties to the ideology broken.
A handout on the policy stated that the “goal is not necessarily to cut jobs, but to move our universities away from administrative activism on social and political debates,” according to the Raleigh News & Observer. “It is going to take some time to determine how many positions could be modified or discontinued to ensure that institutions are aligning with the revised policy.”
The new policy does not cut cultural centers or other programs and organizations as long as they “comply with legal requirements for institutional neutrality and nondiscrimination.” It also will not affect classroom instruction, and it notes a commitment to “academic freedom.” Funding that was previously dedicated to the DEI ideology will be reallocated toward “student success initiatives.”
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Last week, the board of trustees for the system’s flagship university, UNC at Chapel Hill, voted to divert $2.3 million from DEI initiatives toward policing and public safety initiatives.
According to a legislation tracker from the Chronicle of Higher Education, 14 bills gutting DEI in various states have been signed into law since 2023.