On May 13th, The U.K. Daily Mail reported that the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has ended its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion program..
The article reports:
UNC Chapel Hill’s Board of Trustees voted Monday to cut funding for diversity programs in next year’s budget – and approved a change that would divert $2.3 million toward public safety and policing.
The vote to shift more funding to public safety comes as continued pro-Palestinian protests on UNC’s campus have resulted in several arrests in recent weeks.
The campus made national headlines after members of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity took it upon themselves to shield the US flag after protesters replaced it with the Palestinian flag.
The budget committee vice-chair Marty Kotis 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,’ Kotis said.
‘It takes away resources for others.’
Budget chair Dave Boliek said the decision gives the university an ‘opportunity to lead on this’ and get ahead of the vote by the University of North Carolina Board of Governors’ on its diversity policy.
Last month, the statewide board’s Committee on University Governance voted to reverse and replace its DEI policy for 17 schools across the state.
The change would alter a 2019 diversity, equity and inclusion regulation that defines the roles of various DEI positions — and it would appear to eliminate those jobs if the policy is removed.
Dave Boliek is currently running for State Auditor in North Carolina.
The article concludes:
Republican lawmakers in about two dozen states have filed bills seeking to restrict DEI initiatives this year. They are countered by Democrats who have sponsored supportive DEI measures in about 20 states.
Altogether, lawmakers have proposed about 150 bills this year that would either restrict or promote DEI efforts, according to an Associated Press analysis.
It appears that DEI has done more to divide us than to bring us together.