UNC & Local News

On Dec. 19 the Orange County District Attorney dismissed all eight remaining cases against protesters who were arrested following the April 30 pro-Palestine demonstration at UNC. The decision was made one week after a judge ruled to dismiss the first associated case that went to trial.

Detractors ignore the explicit role of the University’s governing board.

Few entities at Carolina have received greater public and media scrutiny than the Board of Trustees. UNC has undergone significant changes since the COVID pandemic, many of which were catalyzed by the board. Thus, examining its role — both its statutory mandate and its recent actions — adds valuable context to the often-heated discourse surrounding the university’s political and academic trajectory.

Six pro-Palestinian protesters had their charges dismissed Friday in Orange County court after one argued a UNC encampment at UNC-Chapel Hill was protected by the First Amendment and witnesses in the other cases could not be found.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – As the autumn sun warms the historic campus outside, a professor specializing in ancient and modern political philosophy guides undergraduate students through the seemingly ruthless nuances of Machiavelli’s 16th-century philosophy of morals.

A recent story on UNC Chapel Hill’s pioneering new School of Civic Life and Leadership by The Assembly, a left-leaning online magazine, missed an opportunity to explain to its readers what the program teaches, what students learn and what those students think about it.

Instead of illuminating the pro-democracy program’s academic content, The Assembly’s 3,000-plus-word story followed the lead of other news media in obsessing over process, impugning participants’ motives and highlighting the school’s origins — while getting that wrong.

You may have noticed that there has been less news this fall than last spring about Middle East-related demonstrations and disruptions on college campuses, a change only partly attributable to the recent presidential election.

Since retiring from the university, several people have asked if I miss it. I tell them I miss what it was, but not what it has become. Higher education in America has gone from being the best in the world to one of the most pathetic. Why? It’s hard to describe what academia was to me and to millions in the past. It was not just a job, but a way of life, and of Western Civilization; and I’m so close to it, that it’s hard to describe—like trying to describe one’s own mother (hence alma mater!).

After a spring semester that saw pro-Palestinian tent encampments pop up on college campuses around the country, the board that governs North Carolina’s public universities could move to draft a policy setting standards for protests that would apply to all 17 campuses under its jurisdiction.

The pioneering new School of Civic Life and Leadership, like anything at UNC-Chapel Hill, can be celebrated or criticized. But querulous history professor Jay Smith and other avowed SCiLL antagonists are wrong to keep insisting that the University’s Board of Trustees “created it by fiat.” That’s false — just ask former chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz.

UNC’s new School of Civic Life and Leadership’s goal to teach critical thinking and free expression seems quaint, even charming, given today’s campus sensibilities.

In the words of a fondly remembered editor in Atlanta, “It’s just basic.” He would infuse this with just enough menacing Southern drawl to terrorize me and other staff reporters based in large Southeast cities to fix fast whatever problem he had with this or that draft story and get it to the wires, lickety-split

The University of North Carolina is attempting to restore uninhibited free speech and civil discourse on campus through its new School of Civic Life and Leadership amid an increasingly politically polarized academic climate.

In America, we have a secular First “Commandment”: Speak your mind.

To put it in cross-disciplinary terms, it would be “sinful” not to express your opinion, thoughts or ideas on any sundry subject. After all, you might be the person with the right answer to any problem.

Jed Atkins, head of the Chapel Hill campus’s new School of Civic Life and Leadership, wants to teach students to be tolerant, in an old-school way.

The organization UNC Students for Justice in Palestine held a demonstration on UNC campus Thursday afternoon, which resulted in the disruption of class and vandalism of several university buildings.

A group of campus community members organized a “walk out” of classes and their jobs in a demonstration of solidarity with Palestinians, as the region continues to be heavily impacted by the Israel-Hamas war. The protest’s participants marched across parts of central campus and into several buildings after gathering at the steps of Wilson Library for speakers to share their concerns.

As recently as 2015, nearly 60% of Americans told Gallup that they had “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in US colleges and universities as a whole. Today, just 36% of respondents agree — not much different from the shares who say they have only “some” confidence (32%) and very little or none (32%).

When 5,600 new students from all corners of our state and beyond gathered in the Smith Center for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s annual convocation to start the academic year, they had a lot on their minds. Many are living away from home and family for the first time and figuring out laundry and bus schedules. Some are questioning if they’ve chosen the right major. And nearly all will be wondering if these experiences are unique to them or just a rite of passage.

Last fall, having drunk deeply of the Left’s cocktail of antisemitism, post-colonialism, and general nuisance-making, a small but virulent minority of American college students began “protesting” for “Palestine.” Inaugurated mere days after Hamas’s Oct. 7 sneak-attack against Israel, these agitations crescendoed with the establishment, in the spring of this year, of “Occupy Wall Street”-style encampments on university quads.

There has been much concern in recent years about the rise of nontraditional college leaders and what that portends for higher education. The announcement last week of Lee Roberts as chancellor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill kicked off a fresh round of debate about whether someone from outside academe can be effective at the helm of a university. 

With all the dismaying news from college campuses lately, at least there’s one new bright spot for traditional liberal thought: The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill is opening the doors at its new school committed to free expression, after hiring 11 faculty, including seven tenure-line positions.

The fish stinks from the head, goes the old saying.

Presidents of elite universities have been at the head of the failed response to a rash of antisemitic harassment and chaos on too many campuses. Yet college presidents are not alone. Those responsible for governing these institutions, their boards of trustees, have also failed to rise to the moment, doing little or nothing to address the crisis.

During his time as interim chancellor, he set a vision for the University rooted in its core mission to serve the state of North Carolina, educate the next generation of leaders and conduct life-changing research.

New Tar Heels will move through issues, literally, in a half-hour program led by School of Civic Life and Leadership faculty.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WTVD) -- Dozens of protesters are facing misdemeanors for their involvement in the Pro-Palestine protests at UNC.

A few months ago, hundreds gathered for these protests in support of Palestine, urging the university to sever financial ties with Israel.

Should UNC-Chapel Hill, the flagship university of North Carolina, represent the diversity of the state? That is a question that seems to be on many minds. Because diversity does offer benefits, such as exposure to different cultures, interaction with others from different backgrounds, and opportunity for everyone, the answer usually comes back as an emphatic “yes.” And, of course, Carolina is known here as “the university of the people.”

RALEIGH — All 17 UNC System Schools have received legal guidance on implementing a new equality policy adopted by the UNC Board of Governors on May 23. The policy replaced the system’s diversity, equity and inclusion policy that was previously in Section 300.8.5 of the UNC Policy Manual.

The new guidance emphasizes the need to balance institutional neutrality with academic freedom, student support and the university’s core mission.

The recent protests at UNC are only one example of the unrest at several campuses across the U.S. (albeit mostly “elite” ones) in response to events in the Middle East. By April 2024, protests had been going on for months at UNC.

The academic year is over, and UNC is quiet again heading into the summer. But even now, there’s a lot of activity on campus as folks gear up for the fall.

One recent notable development has been the creation of UNC’s new School of Civic Life and Leadership.

The University of North Carolina system last month became the latest public university system to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) offices and spending. It’s another victory for the national anti-DEI crusade that has become a defining higher ed issue in state politics.

The Carolina Review has uncovered a series of policies and guidelines by UNC’s Residence Hall Association, the body tasked with organizing social and educational events in dormitories across campus. This is allegedly a direct violation of student’s First Amendment rights. The RHA, unlike other student organizations, receives direct funding from the university through mandatory student housing fees and other funds derived from contracts between Carolina Housing and private vendors. Additionally, Carolina Housing employees work directly with the organization.

The dismantling of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts at UNC-Chapel Hill could begin in earnest as soon as this month, say two members of the university’s board of trustees. Trustees will likely meet this month in a yet-to-be-scheduled special meeting, finalizing the campus budget before forwarding it to the UNC System Board of Governors for final approval.

Staff ignored emails, gave no clear answers

Two groups won equal treatment for an event tomorrow at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill featuring Daily Wire commentator Candace Owens.

UNC originally denied the event “Campus Life Experience” credit and would not list it on Heel Life, a university calendar. Most full-time students must attend at least two CLE events per semester.

Yesterday evening, UNC's Program for Public Discourse hosted The Free Press founder Bari Weiss and New York Times opinion writer Frank Bruni for a discussion about objectivity in journalism.

Partway through, masked protestors attempted to censor the event by yelling and waving signs.

The UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees was honored by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni last week at a ceremony in Washington D.C. The board was presented the Jerry L. Martin Prize for Excellence in College Trusteeship for its “unwavering commitment to academic excellence, academic integrity, and freedom of thought and inquiry.”

Tensions were high over the war between Israel and Hamas as dueling demonstrations led to shouting and in some cases, police having to intervene in an emotionally-charged scene.

Highlights

77% of students say shouting down a speaker to prevent them from speaking on campus is at least rarely acceptable.
51% of students say they have self-censored on campus at least once or twice a month.
65% of students say they are worried about damaging their reputation because someone misunderstands something they have said or done.
For every one conservative student, there are roughly 4.1 liberal students.

Zealous university faculty and administrators have become increasingly intolerant of anyone who disagrees with their “progressive” beliefs. Sometimes, they’re unguarded enough to admit that they want to “cull the herd” to eliminate dissidents, as in this case.

In July of 2020, UNC-Chapel Hill’s chancellor sent an email to the university’s leadership cabinets requesting responses to three questions regarding “structural racism.” Through public records requests, the Martin Center obtained a copy of the many responses submitted over the following days by Chapel Hill’s academic and administrative units. Our previous article on this subject introduced the chancellor’s DEI questionnaire and examined some of the more extreme proposals supplied by respondents. Below, we look in greater detail at the “solutions” proposed by Chapel Hill’s various divisions and schools.

This session, the North Carolina legislature has taken aim at Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) trainings on UNC-System campuses. On March 14th, Senate Majority Staff Director Derrick Welch sent a letter to the UNC System requesting a list of all employee trainings on that topic from 2023 and the previous three years.

Since DEI in higher ed is a matter of continuing interest for the Martin Center, we promptly sent public-records requests to the UNC System and its 16 constituent institutions, requesting all responses sent to Welch and the legislature.

Gov. Roy Cooper let an omnibus bill dealing with University of North Carolina System campuses become law without his signature Thursday.

N.C. Senate Bill 195 made a series of changes to policies governing the state’s universities — none exceptionally controversial. The bill, originally filed in March by N.C. Sen. Amy Galey (R-Alamance) had several prominent Democratic sponsors, including Sen. Gladys Robinson (D-Guilford) and Sen. Jay Chaudhuri (D-Wake). It passed 110-3 in the Senate and 39-0 in the House.

In the past several years, the Martin Center has exposed and reported on numerous diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at UNC-Chapel Hill. Since late 2021, we have uncovered DEI plans that pose significant threats to academic freedom and free speech in at least three schools.

How many hundreds, thousands or hundreds of thousands of American citizens have been “canceled,” fired or not re-hired in the wake of Black Lives Matter (BLM) and far-left attacks on free speech?

If it is only one, it is one too many. Compelled speech as well as censored speech defeats the whole purpose of free and open inquiry on college campuses.

In January 2023, UNC-Chapel Hill launched its “DEI Strategic Plan” for the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS). The DEI Strategic Plan is an offshoot of Chief Diversity Officer Leah Cox’s “Build Our Community Together” initiative, itself part of a 2020 program entitled “Carolina Next.”

That initiative outlines plans to align admissions, hiring, and retention policies with administrators’ diversity, equity, and inclusion goals. Objectives include “​​prioritiz[ing] diversity, equity, and inclusion in teaching, research and service, and in hiring, evaluation, retention and promotion of under-represented faculty and staff.” This is in addition to “explor[ing] innovative approaches to admissions” focused on DEI.

The roots of cancel culture first took hold on college campuses, where outspoken pockets of angry students began shouting down teachers and classmates who dared to voice opposing viewpoints. Hundreds of cases of retaliation have since been reported.

But today, the news isn’t all bad. Change is taking place on the very college and university campuses where cancel culture first bloomed. North Carolina’s very own UNC Chapel Hill should be lauded for stepping into the fray in support of free speech.

The University of North Carolina (UNC) medical school is disbanding its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) task force without implementing its recommendations, just months after banning DEI statements from admission, hiring, promotion and tenure.

An historic battle is waging over the future of higher education in the U.S. And the stakes couldn’t be higher. The presenting issues are critical social justice theory and freedom of speech. Back in the early 1980s, Jesse Jackson and Stanford University student protestors raised a few eyebrows when they chanted, “Hey, hey, ho, ho, Western Civ has got to go,” though many folks just shrugged it off as juvenile exuberance. Well, 40 years later, no one’s shrugging it off. Jackson’s catchy little chant is now the relentless drumbeat of mainstream academia.

The Prohibit Compelled Speech/Higher Ed Act, House Bill 607, sits in the Senate Rules Committee this week, after passing the House earlier this month. It seeks to extend and codify protections from compelled speech for students and college applicants in North Carolina.

In a victory for academic freedom, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill announced its decision to not implement recommendations made by the School of Medicine’s Task Force to Integrate Social Justice into the Curriculum that would condition tenure and promotion on faculty commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Free-speech protections are on the rise in the UNC System. Late last year, UNC-Chapel Hill’s Board of Trustees and Faculty Council adopted free-speech resolutions, with the latter signing on to the speech-friendly Chicago Principles, as well. More recently, two UNC-System institutions have joined the flagship in publicly committing to protecting First Amendment rights on campus.

The Martin Center has often reported on the damage being done in colleges and universities under the guise of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). Now, another organization, Color Us United (CUU), is doing the same for the UNC School of Medicine (UNCSM).

For much of the last century, Democrats controlled North Carolina.

Since 2010, however, voters bestowed that power on Republicans, who have appointed conservatives like me to govern the UNC system.