The board at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill voted to cut funding from diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and instead divert the funds to increase public safety.
If approved by the full board, the decision would move $2.3 million to help police the campus.
“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,” said budget committee vice-chair Marty Kotis. “It takes away resources for others.”
‘I don’t think it gives a return on investment to taxpayers.’
He also said that the funds needed to be funneled to police in order to provide enough security to protect students and faculty.
“They do not have all the tools they need right now to keep this campus safe from a larger threat,” Kotis said about the police.
Protesters at UNC Chapel Hill organized an encampment and even tore down an American flag in order to demand that the college join the Israel divestment movement and end a program that allows students to study abroad in Israel. Some students were arrested, and the flag was replaced.
The vote anticipates a similar vote by the University of North Carolina Board of Governors to remove DEI requirements entirely from all campuses, including Chapel Hill.
Trustee Dave Boliek, a former chairman of the Board of Trustees, expressed his opposition to all DEI policies.
“I think that DEI is divisive. I don’t think it’s productive,” he explained. “I don’t think it gives a return on investment to taxpayers and to the institution itself.”
The change would apply to next year’s budget and likely lead to some faculty and staff at UNC-Chapel Hill losing their jobs.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion policies gained prominence as a result of the protests related to the death of George Floyd while under police custody in 2020. Corporations and educational institutions rushed to implement DEI in order to appease racial criticism and show their support for the “woke” movement.
After only a year, activists began to complain that “white guilt” had run out and corporations were revoking their financial support of the movement. A report from the Los Angeles Times documented the dismissal of DEI consultants at major corporations, including Disney, Netflix, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and Warner Bros. Discovery.
Some Republican-led states, like Florida, have passed their own bans against DEI policies, leading to angst and outrage from people on the left.
“DEI is toxic and has no place in our public universities,” said Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in March. “I’m glad that Florida was the first state to eliminate DEI and I hope more states follow suit.”
The full board of 24 members at UNC-Chapel Hill will take up the resolution, and if it is approved, it will go into effect immediately.
Here’s more about the decision:
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Unc chapel hill, Unc defund dei, Unc hires more police, Defund dei north carolina, Politics