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The University of North Carolina System’s Board of Governors has directed the board of trustees at each campus to form a new subcommittee that will scrutinize compliance with diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.
In a memorandum dated June 17, which was posted on a UNC System website but not announced publicly, board chair Wendy Murphy and the chair of the BOG’s committee on university governance, Alex Mitchell, wrote that these campus-level committees will assess whether schools are in alignment with the system’s 2024 “equality policy.” That policy repealed previous DEI guidelines and required administrators to stay neutral on political controversies.
Last September, campuses reported that the new equality policy led them to eliminate DEI offices and dozens of jobs, while another 131 positions were changed. In total, campuses across the UNC System reported redirecting $16 million from former DEI programs to “student success” and “wellbeing” efforts.
But Murphy and Mitchell’s memo indicated that they feel campuses have more work to do to eliminate DEI, calling the results from last September an “initial effort.” They wrote that campuses must show a “meaningful verification that those realignments succeeded” in compliance reports that are due to the Board of Governors on September 1. The Board of Governors oversees the 17-campus UNC System, while boards of trustees oversee individual institutions.
The chairs instructed each campus to select five trustees to serve on the panels, and gave them until July 31 to submit the names to UNC System President Peter Hans, who will have final approval. The memo said each subcommittee’s work will continue until the BOG “deems its specific oversight no longer needed.”
The new trustee committees will receive briefings from their chancellor or the responsible senior administrator on training provided to staff about the equality policy, the responsibilities of any roles that were reassigned to other work, and the performance of “relevant” personnel. The panels will also receive reports on “updated institutional webpages and mission statements for programs, curriculum, and objectives.”
“In the last several years, the Board of Governors has amplified efforts to ensure protection of the equality of all persons and their respective viewpoints,” Murphy and Mitchell wrote. “The effectiveness of any policy depends on its implementation. Effective implementation requires strong leadership and ongoing oversight.”
The Assembly reported last month that scrutiny of DEI efforts at UNC schools has increased substantially over the last year, especially since President Donald Trump returned to office.
The directive also comes after Accuracy in Media, a conservative advocacy group, released secretly recorded videos from several UNC campuses that captured administrators talking about DEI efforts. Most of the administrators featured in the videos are no longer employed at those institutions, though the schools haven’t said whether they resigned or were fired.
Republican state lawmakers have pointed to the videos as proof that DEI-related activities are continuing on campuses in violation of the UNC System’s policies.
“Folks are admittedly still doing some of these things behind the scenes, and they’re admitting to sneakily finding ways to push an agenda,” Rep. David Willis, a Union County Republican, told The Assembly last month. “And whenever you’ve got an agenda that supports one side or the other from a political perspective, a social perspective, I mean, are we giving the kids the true education and educational freedom that they talk about?”
Representatives of the UNC System did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The memo did not mention the Accuracy in Media videos.
The memo directed these new subcommittees to hold open-session briefings from chancellors on DEI compliance. Murphy and Mitchell also instructed board chairs to arrange “limited” closed-session briefings from chancellors on “the performance of relevant campus personnel.”
“These confidential reviews should compare an individual’s prior position to his or her new responsibilities, including how the employee’s performance in that role has changed, and what safeguards exist to ensure an employee’s previous responsibilities do not continue in the present role,” the chairs wrote. “Confidential briefings from the chancellor on any disciplinary action taken against personnel should occur at this time as well.”
“This is valuable work and should be done collectively—not individually by board members,” Murphy and Mitchell concluded. “The work of your subcommittees will contribute meaningfully to our shared goals to affirm equality, institutional neutrality, free expression, and academic freedom.”
Erin Gretzinger is a higher education reporter at The Assembly. She was previously a reporting fellow at The Chronicle of Higher Education and is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin at Madison. You can reach her at erin@theassemblync.com.