UNC Chapel Hill Eliminates DEI Programs, Redirects Funding to Campus Police

On Monday, the board of trustees at the University of North Carolina (UNC) Chapel Hill voted to completely abolish the school’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, and will redirect the remaining funds towards the campus police and other public safety measures.

According to Fox News, the decision by the board was unanimous. The reallocated funding is at least $2.3 million, compared to the university’s overall budget of $4 billion.

“My personal opinion is that there’s administrative bloat in the university,” said Board Chair David Boliek following the vote. “Any cuts in administration and diverting of dollars to rubber-meets-the-road efforts like public safety and teaching is important.”

Although the proposal was first suggested before the outbreak of anti-Israel protests on campus, the protests led to a greater focus on the policy as campus police faced down larger and more hostile crowds of anti-American and anti-Semitic riots, which necessitated increased funding for the police.

“It’s important to consider the needs of all 30,000 students, not just 100 or so that may want to disrupt the university’s operations,” said board member Marty Kotis.

A similar vote on restricting or potentially eliminating DEI programs across the state will be held next week, when the UNC Board of Governors holds a meeting to conduct business regarding all 17 public universities in the state of North Carolina. Although all five members of the board’s Committee on University Governance voted last month to repeal a pro-DEI policy, such a proposal must be supported by all 24 members of the board in order for the repeal to be enacted.

Although backlash to DEI and other far-left initiatives on college campuses had already been strong in recent years, the outbreak of anti-Israel protests highlighted the harmful effects of such radical partisan policies, which came to be seen as university administrations caving to the demands of the far-left.

Demonstrations at UNC Chapel Hill received widespread attention when anti-Israel protesters tore down the American flag on campus. Soon thereafter, a new flag was hoisted on the flag pole amidst the ongoing riot, with members of one of the school’s fraternities surrounding the flag to protect it from the mob, while also keeping it from touching the ground. Images of the fraternity brothers protecting the flag went viral, drawing some comparisons to the iconic image of the flag being raised at Iwo Jima during World War II.