Yeungb, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons, Cropped by Resist the Mainstream

Another state university system is actively removing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) requirements and roles from its campuses, reflecting a growing backlash against DEI ideology in schools nationwide.

The Associated Press (AP) reported that a swift vote by a five-person committee to repeal a key policy on Wednesday within the University of North Carolina (UNC) Board of Governors that oversees 17 schools could lead the school system to could join other major universities in dismantling their diversity offices.

The proposed policy suggests the elimination of DEI roles held by senior administration officials, mirroring similar actions taken at state universities in Florida and Texas.

The previous policy stated each of 17 schools was required to have senior-level officials serving as its System Office D&I Liaison, Institutional D&I Officer, and an Institutional Inclusion Executive.

These positions could be held by the same individual or assigned separately. However, the new policy voted on Wednesday does not include these roles.

The new proposed policy mandates that each school must submit a report by September 1 certifying full compliance “with the University’s commitment to institutional neutrality and nondiscrimination required by law and this policy and shall describe in substance the actions taken to achieve compliance.”

It also said the report should outline the actions taken to achieve compliance.

It continues by stating, “The chancellors’ certifications shall also include a report on reductions in force and spending, along with changes to job titles and position descriptions, undertaken as a result of implementing this policy and how those savings achieved from these actions can be redirected to initiatives related to student success and well-being,”

A Republican-majority board of governors will review the new policy in May. If approved, the school's DEI policy could be completely repealed, Fox News outlined.

UNC could soon follow the lead of Texas and Florida, where DEI positions were slashed from public universities to comply with state laws.

The University of Florida in Gainesville announced last month, for example, through a memo that it would be discontinuing its office and reallocating its funding towards faculty recruitment instead.

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who championed eliminating DEI from public institutions in Florida, said he hoped other states would follow “follow suit.”

“DEI is toxic and has no place in our public universities. I’m glad that Florida was the first state to eliminate DEI,” DeSantis said at the time.

Universities in Texas experienced significant reductions in their diversity and inclusion staff in 2024 to comply with a state ban enacted into law the previous year, per AP. The state higher education board in Kansas, in a similar example, was set to address a ban on diversity initiatives in staff hiring and student admissions on Wednesday.

AP notes that at least 20 states have seen Republican bill proposals that seek to limit DEI programs in various public institutions such as universities.

Resist The Mainstream reported last month that a report revealed Thomas Jefferson’s University of Virginia (UVA) allocates roughly $20 million annually to its 235 DEI staffers.

The staffers include one woman who asserts that the opioid epidemic is a consequence of the “toxicity of whiteness,” signaling that while some university systems are dismantling DEI, others are embracing it.

The federal spending watchdog Open the Books revealed that UVA allocated $15 million in combined compensation to these individuals, with an additional $5 million estimated to be provided in the form of benefits such as healthcare and life insurance, according to the findings of the group.

Another one of the staffers is Martin Davidson, the school’s diversity chief, who earns nearly $600,000 annually.

Open the Books CEO and author of the study Adam Andrzejewski said, “with head counts in the hundreds and spending estimated at $20 million per year, the DEI infrastructure at UVA is funded with the equivalent of nearly 1,000 students paying tuition.”