North Carolina school reassigns DEI staff amid statewide crackdown
The University of North Carolina Wilmington is the most recent college to close its “diversity and inclusion” office.
The school announced the decision to shut down its Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion last week, according to WECT News.
“Based on policy requirements and consistent with System Office guidance, UNCW will close the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion (OIDI), eliminate the Chief Diversity Officer position and shift the cultural and identity centers from OIDI to Student Affairs,” Chancellor Aswani K. Volety wrote in a message to the school.
“Careful and deliberate thought was given to the impact on students, staff, programs and services. Three principles guided our decisions: (1) Comply with the policy’s requirements. (2) Support students’ needs for continued success. (3) Take care of our permanent staff to the best of our ability,” Volety stated. He also said another option was to fire some employees.
As part of this transition, UNCW’s 15 Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion employees have been offered new roles in other departments. Additionally, Chief Diversity Officer Dr. Donyell Roseboro will be reassigned to the Watson College of Education, according to Port City Daily.
The change will also impact the university’s cultural centers, including the Upperman African American Cultural Center, Centro Hispano, the Mohin-Scholz LGBTQIA Resource Center, and the Asian Heritage Cultural Center. Volety said “some aspects of their staffing and programming will change to comply with the policy requirements and enhance their fit within Student Affairs.”
Volety also said: “The centers will continue to focus on creating and sustaining a sense of belonging for historically marginalized students while also providing support, service and educational programs to benefit all students.”
In May, the UNC System Board of Governors voted to repeal a policy that required DEI offices on each of its 17 campuses, as previously reported by The College Fix.
The board replaced the policy with a new directive requiring “each institution to certify by Sept. 1 that it fully complies with the university’s commitment to institutional neutrality and nondiscrimination,'” WRAL News reported.
UNCW is the latest university to join the growing trend of schools closing their DEI offices. Last month, campuses within the University of Alabama system shut down their DEI divisions in response to a new state law prohibiting public schools and universities from funding DEI programs, as previously reported by The College Fix.
Similarly, the University of Wyoming plans to close its DEI office this month. In July, the university’s vice president for DEI announced his departure from the school due to legislative pressure to remove the DEI office, as previously reported by The Fix.
MORE: ‘Momentum undeniably growing’: More elite colleges look to end DEI mandates
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