The DEI Decline Continues: UNC Chapel Hill Board Votes To Cut Funding For Diversity Programs

The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill (UNC) Board has voted to eliminate funding for diversity programs. In a unanimous decision on Monday, the UNC Board of Trustees agreed to divert $2.3 million away from diversity and inclusion programs into public safety in the budget for next year.

This decision occurred in the wake of next week’s expected vote from the UNC System Board of Governors, which will determine whether “to eliminate diversity goals and jobs at member institutions, including UNC-Chapel Hill.”

One of the board members spoke with CBS 17, stating that he believes DEI programs on college campuses to be divisive. “The DEI efforts seemed counterproductive to that effort to treat people based on who they are as a human, not based on any kind of characteristic they might have,” said Dave Boliek, the current budget chair and former chairman of the Board of Trustees.

With this move, UNC has joined the likes of other public universities, including the University of Florida (UF), that have also slashed diversity expenditures. However, UF “implemented its funding rollback after the state Legislature passed a bill banning diversity program spending at state universities, whereas UNC ‘set the tone’ on funding cuts before the North Carolina Legislature stepped in.”

This change will be enacted on July 1, which marks the beginning of the next fiscal year. The diversity office currently has 12 employees, but Boliek has indicated that he does not know how many positions will be impacted because of the funding cuts. The decision on whether this “spending cut would remove UNC’s Office of Diversity & Inclusion” is “up to the university’s flexible management plan, which is operated by interim Chancellor Lee Roberts and his team.”

Some believe the high-profile student pro-Palestinian protests on campus also were a factor behind the funding shift. Several arrests have occurred on campus over the past few weeks.

Marty Kotis, vice-chair of the budget committee, “said law enforcement has already been forced to react to protests, but they need more funding to keep the university “safe from a larger threat.”

“It’s important to consider the needs of all 30,000 students, not just the 100 or so that may want to disrupt the university’s operations,” said Kotis. “It takes away resources for others.”

“We talk about peaceful protests, but when you destroy property or you take down the U.S flag and you have to put up gates around it – that costs money — or deploy officers to do that. North Carolinians are watching all this, and they are not happy,” added Kotis. “I think it’s imperative that we have the proper resources for our law enforcement to protect campus.”

But Boliek refuted these assertions, stating that the announcement of budget shifts amid the protests was merely a coincidence, and these conversations have been ongoing for the last year. Boliek, who is running to become state auditor, also revealed that UNC “is moving away from using state funds for DEI initiatives.”