UNC System eliminates roles and repositions staff, continuing repeal of DEI on campus

The University of North Carolina has eliminated nearly 60 DEI positions within the system and has closed 17 DEI offices.

The rollback of DEI positions within the university system comes after a vote came from the Board of Governors in May which called for the repeal of DEI across its 17 campuses, as WUNC has reported.

In a report compiled for the Board of Governors, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has made “Programmatic Changes” by realigning nearly 27 DEI positions, eliminating an additional 20 positions, and has saved a total of $5,389,202 in their restructuring that handles DEI within the one campus in the UNC System. 

The Daily Tar Heel reported that the Board of Governor’s Senior Vice President and General Counsel in the Office of Legal Affairs at UNC said the changes are “required...its compliance is required, eliminating dozens of positions.” 

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Specific schools that are affected by the changes include UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, the School of Medicine, and UNC’s School of Pharmacy. 

In a document distributed by the UNC Division of Legal Affairs for the University of North Carolina System, the decision to shutter DEI offices has resulted in  new university guidelines for how to continue forward for the start of the Fall 2024 semester. 

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The guidelines include specific advisories that focus on how UNC will: “focus on student success,” “avoiding content endorsement,” restructure DEI center content, and an emphasis on “content neutrality” in curriculum.