UNC Chapel Hill diverts millions from DEI to improve campus safety

The Board of Trustees at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill voted to move $2.3 million from diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives to campus security on Monday. 

Board Chair David Boliek told The News & Observer: “My personal opinion is that there’s administrative bloat in the university. . . . Any cuts in administration and diverting of dollars to rubber-meets-the-road efforts like public safety and teaching is important.”

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A number of board members expressed concerns regarding recent disruptive anti-Israel protests on UNC-Chapel Hill’s campus. Regarding an incident in which protesters replaced a U.S. flag with the Palestinian flag, board member Marty Kotis said: “When you destroy property or you take down the U.S flag and you have to put up gates around it — that costs money. It’s imperative that we have the proper resources for law enforcement to protect the campus.”

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

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The disruptive protests at UNC-Chapel Hill saw several arrests of anti-Israel protesters. 

A UNC-Chapel Hill spokesperson told Campus Reform: “The budget includes an amendment by the [Board of Trustees] to allocate $2.3 million from DEI with management flexibility given to the Chancellor for investment in public safety. In addition, the board approved an audit of the University’s athletics department budget.”

The spokesperson continued: “Next week, the UNC Board of Governors is slated to discuss a separate system-wide proposal related to DEI.”