UNC-CH board removes DEI funding from next year's budget

UNC-Chapel Hill's Board of Trustees on Monday approved the transfer of $2.3 million in diversity and inclusion spending to public safety priorities in the 2024-25 budget.

The trustees held a special meeting Monday morning. The board is scheduled to hold its regular meeting Wednesday and Thursday.

The UNC System Board of Governors is expected to vote next week to eliminate diversity goals and jobs at member institutions, including UNC-Chapel Hill. A Board of Governors committee last month approved a complete rewrite of the system's existing diversity, equity and inclusion policy.

The move is likely to create job losses at the Chapel Hill campus, said trustee Dave Boliek.

"Clearly the Board of Governors has signaled by their policy and you had comments from legislative leaders that they're looking toward leadership at the university level," Boliek, a former chairman of the Board of Trustees, said in an interview. "We're providing it. We're leading."

The $2.3 million is money from state-appropriated dollars and trust fund money that were "immediately identified," Boliek said. The system office identified that money, he said. The university's operating budget in 2023-24 was $4.2 billion.

The new Board of Governors policy calls for each institution to certify by Sept. 1 that it "fully complies with the university's commitment to institutional neutrality and nondiscrimination."

It does away with current policy that establishes "system-wide diversity and inclusion metrics and goals" and created a "UNC System diversity and inclusion council."

At the meeting, Boliek said: "I think that DEI is divisive. I don't think it's productive. I don't think it gives a return on investment to taxpayers and to the institution itself."

North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore, a Cleveland County Republican, said earlier this year that the legislature would likely leave the issue to the Board of Governors and campuses.

Boliek said conversations about increased funding for public safety began after the on-campus shooting death of a professor at the beginning of the 2023-24 school year. On-campus protests in support of Palestinians at the end of the year also played a role, Boliek said.

Marty Kotis, a trustee, said it was important to give more support to law enforcement on campus.

"They do not have all the tools they need right now to keep this campus safe from a larger threat," Kotis said. "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."

The board’s decision caught UNC faculty off guard.

“Frankly, I was stunned,” said Beth Moracco, an associate professor in the Department of Health Behavior, and the Chair of the Faculty at UNC-Chapel Hill. “I have heard from faculty who are very concerned, who are concerned because they see the value in what we’re doing to increase equity and inclusion on campus”

“This is a little bit of the cart getting ahead of the horse,” said Wade Maki, chair of the UNC faculty assembly and a professor at UNC-Greensboro.

“The way the [Board of Governor’s] policy is written is campuses are supposed to take a few months and figure out who is doing what.”

During Monday’s meeting, UNC-Chapel Hill student body president Jaleah Taylor raised her own concerns.

“Would it not be advisable to wait further guidance before considering any adjustment to the budget?” she asked.

Her question was ignored.