The University of North Carolina (UNC) system recently implemented significant DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) reductions across its affiliated universities. In May, the UNC System’s governing board approved a policy that banned DEI offices and titles at its required universities to report on staff and funding reductions for these programs by September 1. The board also mandated institutional neutrality, which prohibits university officials from endorsing political or social views and restricts employees from “compelling others’ speech or promoting political concepts through training.”
The UNC System’s legal affairs division stated in guidance released in June that the new policy required more than just changes in job titles. Institutions were instructed to substantively alter the roles and responsibilities related to DEI, focusing instead on advancing academic success across student populations.
“The actual work of the University must return to advancing the academic success of students with different backgrounds, not different political causes — job titles and responsibilities should follow suit.”
At UNC-Chapel Hill, seven positions within its central administrative office, which previously housed the now-eliminated diversity office, were cut, as were six positions in the School of Medicine. Despite these cuts, most affected employees were reassigned within the university. According to a campus-wide message, of the former central DEI office’s $1.8 million budget, 55% is being redirected to student success, well-being, and employee development initiatives, with the remainder allocated to salaries for reassigned employees.
North Carolina State University (NCSU) followed with substantial cuts, eliminating eight DEI-related positions and reassigning 29 others. The total reduction in DEI funding at NCSU amounts to $5 million. Similarly, UNC Charlotte dissolved three DEI-related offices, cut nine positions, and restructured nine additional roles.
This trend in North Carolina reflects a broader national movement where state legislatures and boards of governors are enacting policies to limit DEI initiatives, including Utah universities, which had to comply with a statewide DEI ban, House Bill 261, by July 1.
“Each school is taking a slightly different approach to meeting legal requirements. But all have eliminated at least some of the places where marginalized students went for support,” reported the Salt Lake Tribune.
Weber State University shut down eight identity-specific centers, Utah Valley University restructured one, and the University of Utah (the U) closed four cultural and identity centers: the Women’s Resource Center, Black Cultural Center, LGBT Resource Center, and Center for Equity and Student Belonging. As required by law, the U set up a more broadly-focused Center for Student Access and Resources that offers support on scholarships, for example, to all students, and maintains no specific gender or race-based resources.
