North Carolina eliminates DEI offices, citing Rutgers study on its negative impacts

The North Carolina Department of Labor and the Office of the State Auditor have both announced the end to all Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) practices.

Labor Commissioner Luke Farley and State Auditor Dave Boliek announced the decisions on Jan. 23.

[RELATED: Air Force Academy drops ‘Diversity and Inclusion Studies’ minor]

“Effective immediately, I am ending the N.C. Department of Labor’s (NCDOL) use of DEI metrics in evaluating the performance of the department’s hardworking employees,” Farley said in a press release. “From this point forward, we will hire and evaluate employees based on merit and on their ability to fulfill our mission to protect the health, safety and well-being of North Carolinians.”

“I am adding a performance measure related to safety and health which will ensure that we hold ourselves to the same standards that we expect and require of our state’s employers,” Farley added. “Ultimately, my goal is to hire and retain qualified, professional individuals who will provide excellent service to our state.”

In a press release of his own, Boliek cited recent shifts away from DEI in the corporate world and academia. He referenced Farley’s decision, as well as President Trump’s executive order to end DEI practices in the federal government. 

Boliek concluded that “DEI is divisive and brings little-to-no return on investment of time and resources.” 

Public Information Manager Randy Brechbiel of the Office of the State Auditor told Campus Reform that the office’s DEI initiatives included “required implicit bias training for employees.”

In the press release, the state auditor also pointed to studies demonstrating the negative aspects of DEI, including one from Rutgers University that found “DEI can heighten racial suspicion, prejudicial attitudes, and authoritarian policing”

The study, which Campus Reform covered last semester, is titled “Instructing Animosity: How DEI pedagogy produces the hostile attribution bias.”

[RELATED: Conservative Mississippi lawmaker introduces bill to ban DEI at state’s universities]

“My goal in the Auditor’s Office is to establish a professional workplace where individuals are valued and measured based on merit,” Boliek said in his statement.

Farley and Boliek were sworn into their current positions in January.

Major companies have eliminated DEI practices in the last few months, including Walmart and Meta, which owns social media platforms Facebook and Instagram.