UNC Chapel Hill Votes To Gut DEI Department, Give Money To Campus Police
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This move could eliminate the diversity office of a school.
The board of trustees of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), has voted to cut funding to the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), department of the school and instead give it to the campus police.
At a Monday special meeting to discuss the university’s finances, UNC Chapel Hill’s board unanimously voted to redirect $2.3million in diversity funding to campus safety and police.
This move could eliminate the diversity office of a school.
After weeks of antisemitic demonstrations, several arrests were made.
The budget committee of the school introduced an amendment to reduce the diversity budget.
Marty Kotis, vice-chairman of the budget committee, said: “I believe that DEI is divisiveness and exclusion in many people’s minds.” “We need to be more united and more together, we need to have more dialogue, we need more diversity in thought.”
Kotis stated that it is important to take into account the needs of the 30,000 students and not just 100 or so who may wish to disrupt university operations. It takes resources away from others.
David Boliek, Board Chairman of the University of North Carolina at Raleigh, told the Raleigh News & Observer that he believes there is administrative bloat. “Any cuts in administration and diverting of dollars to rubber-meets-the-road efforts like public safety and teaching is important.”
Since weeks, anti-Israel protests rage on the campus of UNC Chapel Hill. More than 30 people were detained by police last month at a pro Palestinian encampment, where protesters replaced the American flag with a Palestinian one.
Kotis, vice-chairman of the budget committee, said: “When you destroy or take down property and have to install gates around it – that costs money.” It’s important that law enforcement has the resources to protect campus.
On multiple campuses, dozens of protesters were arrested, including at Northeastern University Boston, Emerson College Boston, Emory University Atlanta, Virginia Tech University University, University of Texas Austin, and University of Mary Washington Virginia.
UNC Chapel Hill, the flagship of North Carolina’s system of public universities, is preparing to vote on a new diversity policy next week. This move would reverse the 2019 DEI regulations for 17 universities in the system and eliminate many DEI positions at these schools.
The new policy of the school system would be implemented immediately if approved.
In June, the Supreme Court decided against affirmative action policies at the University of North Carolina and Harvard. This decision has had a major impact on admissions procedures in schools all over the country.