UNCW cancels DEI positions, uses remaining $1.5 million to actually help students

Last month, Chancellor Aswani K. Volety announced that the university would close its Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion (OIDI) to comply with a mandate from the UNC Board of Governors. The mandate was implemented to promote “non-discrimination, equality of opportunity, institutional neutrality, academic freedom, and student success.”

In a joint report released by Volety and Dr. Christine Reed Davis, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, the university detailed its compliance with the mandate. The report showed that 16 permanent positions within the OIDI were eliminated, including the role of Chief Diversity Officer, according to Campus Reform. The former diversity officer will now serve as a professor in the Watson College of Education.

Positions such as the Director of the Centro Hispano, the Director of the LGBTQIA Resource Center, and the Diversity and Inclusion Outreach Coordinator were also cut as part of the restructuring. The report indicated that these terminations freed up over $1.45 million, which will be redirected to the creation of five new positions within Student Engagement, Enrollment, and Retention, as well as high-level roles in the Department of Campus Life. It will also be used to bolster need-based financial aid.

“UNCW moved the cultural and identity centers to the Division of Student Affairs to enhance their roles as resources for student success. 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,” a spokesperson for UNCW said in a statement to Campus Reform.

“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,” the spokesperson added.

The change comes as multiple higher education institutions have adopted similar measures, as states have begun adopting anti-DEI legislation for universities. Earlier this year, the University of Florida fired all DEI staff from their positions to comply with regulations set forth by the state.