The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill will put state funding originally budgeted for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives toward policing.
According to ABC News, the UNC Chapel Hill Board of Trustees voted on Monday to divert $2.3 million away from DEI and into policing and public safety.
Board Chair David Boliek told The News & Observer that people will likely lose their jobs as a result of the shift in funding.
Administrators at the school claim that more money needs to be put toward policing and public safety because of recent protests on campus. Last week, protests raising awareness about the genocide of Palestinians resulted in several arrests, ABC 11 reports.
“We talk about peaceful protests, but when you destroy property or you take down the U.S flag and you have to put up gates around it – that costs money — or deploy officers to do that. North Carolinians are watching all this, and they are not happy,” budget committee vice-chair Marty Kotis told ABC 11. “I think its imperative that we have the proper resources for our law enforcement to protect campus.”
Boliek says there’s “administrative bloat” at UNC Chapel Hill.
“My personal opinion is that there’s administrative bloat in the university,” he said. “… Any cuts in administration and diverting of dollars to rubber-meets-the-road efforts like public safety and teaching is important.”
Monday’s vote will only impact diversity funding and could mean that the university will have to close its diversity office. The board does not appear to have provided news outlets with explanations as to why funding was taken from DEI programs specifically and not any other portions of the school’s budget. According to The News & Observer, the school had a budget of around $4 billion last year.
Boliek said that while the school will no longer be using that state funding for DEI programs, the programs could be funded through private donations in the future.
AsAmNews is published by the non-profit, Asian American Media Inc.
We are supported through donations and such charitable organizations as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. All donations are tax deductible and can be made here.
Please follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube and X.