North Carolina university dumps DEI imitative and will divert the money to campus security.

 

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. USA Today/Getty.

The University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill has dumped DEI initiatives and will divert the money to campus security. USA Today. The Board of Trustees voted unanimously to transfer $2.3 million away from DEI programs and into campus policing and safety. UNC has expected to limit DEI initiatives regardless through the board of governors but the Trustees beat them too it. Chaos caused by pro-Hamas protesters was cited as a reason as well. 36 people were detained and six people were arrested at a protest that lowered the American Flag and replaced it with the Palestinian one. Trustee Marty Kotis said the DEI initiatives stood for "divisiveness, exclusion and indoctrination" as apposed to diversity equity and inclusion. 

My Comment:

DEI has been a thorn in the side for colleges and workplaces for years now. Supposedly designed to support diversity, equity and inclusion, it was a de facto discrimination scheme against white people and positive discrimination against minorities. It's also the source of a lot of culture war fodder that has damaged this country quite a bit. Getting rid of it will likely be good for everyone as people will be judged on their merit instead of the color of their skin. 

This is kind of a big deal. UNC is a major university and is the oldest public university in the United States. For them to give up on DEI is pretty huge. It sounds as they are totally defunding their DEI programs and sending all the money to campus security. 

Some of this is due to pro-Hamas protesters causing a huge mess at UNC. They basically had a riot on campus so it's understandable that they would divert money to their police department. It seems pretty obvious that the police there were not prepared for a major riot and given the fact that the war in Gaza is not going anywhere and there are likely going to be major riots if/when Trump wins in November. 

There is a it of irony of the pro-Hamas people being used as an excuse to get rid of these programs. These programs were on the way out regardless but I think it's hilarious that the excuse is because these pro-Hamas people made everyone furious with them. These are the only people that support DEI in the first place and now at UNC they are a reason why DEI is gone. 

But I think the backlash against DEI is real. People are sick of these programs and rightly consider them to be racist. They also fall afoul of the constitution and are probably going to be ruled against at the Supreme Court. UNC is getting rid of them to try and get ahead of the curve. 

This is a turning point in the culture war. In the past there was no question about getting rid of DEI. Indeed, just a few years ago this would have been unthinkable. But I think it shows that the culture is finally swinging away from the far left. Everyone is sick of having to walk on eggshells...