WILMINGTON — Details have been released on how UNC System schools have complied with the mandate to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, but UNCW’s report shows the university taking it a step further than others in its expulsions.
READ MORE: UNCW quiet on DEI repeal as students call for answers, CFCC group to host its own protest
UNCW’s report — due to the UNC System Board of Governors Sept. 1 but not released publicly until Wednesday — shows the university eliminated 16 positions related to DEI.
The removals were made as part of the UNC System Board of Governors’ May vote to repeal its DEI policy enacted in 2019 and require all 17 institutions to get rid of their chief diversity officers and reallocate funds spent on DEI initiatives and departments to other areas.
These include the chief diversity officer position and the other 15 positions in the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion. Three of the positions were vacant, while five were reassigned to other roles at the university. Some of the positions have been converted into new ones under UNCW’s Student Affairs division, which now oversees the cultural centers.
This reduction is similar to actions taken at the other UNC System schools. However, UNCW’s report details an elimination of the director positions at three of its cultural centers — Upperman African American Cultural Center, Centro Hispano and the LGBTQIA Resource Center.
Students protested the move last month at the start of the fall semester.
Of the UNC System schools with cultural centers, some reported changes while others did not, yet all plans were approved by the UNC System.
Appalachian State University reports its Women’s Center and Henderson-Springs LGTB+ center will be staffed by student center employees; East Carolina University reports no leadership changes to its two cultural centers, though notes the programming will now be majority student-led. Neither report the elimination of any director position for the centers.
N.C. State University did not make any changes to the leadership of its four cultural centers aside from moving them to the Student Affairs division. UNC Chapel Hill reported no changes to its centers.
UNCW’s directors were moved to other positions within the university, as well as other employees that worked under them who also had their positions removed.
Upperman’s Sean Palmer is now associate director of fraternity and sorority life, Centro Hispano’s Edelmira Segovia is now associate director of pre-college programs and college access, and the LGBTQIA Resource Center’s Brooke Lambert is now associate director for business and facility operations in campus recreation.
The report does not mention any changes to the Asian American Heritage Center and Udaanjargal Chuluunbaatar is still listed as the interim director on UNCW’s website. However, the report notes the creation of four coordinator positions to match its four centers.
Port City Daily observed UNCW’s staffing changes in early August and sent inquiries to UNCW, asking why the university chose to eliminate the director positions, despite no mention of doing so, what legal guidance it received.
A university spokesperson said the questions would be answered after the release of the report on Sept. 1. A response was provided Friday.
“The university adjusted staffing in the centers as a part of their new organizational structure because their operational needs changed, including the content and type of their programming,” spokesperson Sydney Bouchelle wrote in an email to Port City Daily. “The centers now have the expertise and resources of a full division behind them. They went from being part of a small office with 16 permanent employees to being part of a large division with 188 permanent employees dedicated to serving students. ”
Bouchelle said the centers’ budgets for salaries are lower than before because they have fewer permanent staff.
Funding will continue to be provided to match the programmatic needs associated with the centers, though operations will need to comply with the UNC System policy changes.
“Centers that are staff-directed must ensure compliance with the policy’s content neutrality requirements just like any other employing unit, and focus on their primary service or function, such as student success, without advocating specific political or social viewpoints,” UNCW’s legal counsel John Scherer wrote in his guidance to university officials on Aug. 12.
Part of the UNC System’s policy changes include inclusion of language affirming institutional neutrality and equality as aligned with state law. Under N.C.G.S. 116-300(3a) prohibits the university and any university department or unit or employees from endorsing specific viewpoints on contemporary political debate or social action.
Scherer’s guidance states university services that promote “student success,” even when focused on students of certain identities, are allowed to continue. However, the guidance includes staff and administrators preparing to provide data that these programs improve graduation rates, retention or student mental health.
Though the directors have been removed, coordinators have been named to run the centers. PCD asked the university to provide job descriptions and salary scales for both the director and coordinator positions; they were not provided by press.
Like the other universities, UNCW has reported its “savings” from the elimination of DEI total $1.45 million annually.
Of that, $760,000 will be allocated to need-based financial aid. $397,000 will be redirected to five positions within Student Engagement, Enrollment and Retention intended to “consolidate recruitment and pathway/pipeline programs under one unit to better align admissions, recruitment, and student success and engagement initiatives.”
The four coordinator positions, three full-time and one part-time, will be covered with $298,000 and housed within the Department of Campus Life. An additional director-level position will be hired in the near future to provide oversight of the student centers and design programing for the centers which directly aligns with the UNC System’s strategic plan.
Port City Daily attempted to reach the former directors of the cultural centers. Lambert declined an interview while Segovia, Palmer and Chuluunbaatar could not be reached.
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