In a move against encroaching woke culture, the University of North Carolina has approved a new policy that would drop requirements related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and all forms of compelled speech. The school’s Board of Governors made the decision on Thursday, agreeing to ditch politically preferential hiring.
University Of North Carolina Moves Against Woke DEI With Ban https://t.co/OsGJmEFyK2 pic.twitter.com/ej67asrn2N
— Daily Wire News (@DailyWireNews) February 26, 2023
In a statement released by the board, the university officially announced that it “shall neither solicit nor require an employee or applicant for academic admission or employment to affirmatively ascribe to or opine about beliefs, affiliations, ideals, or principles regarding matters of contemporary political debate or social action as a condition to admission, employment, or professional advancement.”
Under the resolution, students shall no longer be given tasks that require them to describe their actions in support of or opposition to given DEI beliefs or ideas. The ban on forced DEI statements also protects employees, as such forced requirements are banned from hiring or promotion.
“Practices prohibited here include but are not limited to solicitations or requirements for statements of commitment to particular views on matters of contemporary political debate or social action contained on applications or qualifications for admission or employment included as criteria for analysis of an employee’s career progression,” the statement read further.
This move comes after the University of North Carolina announced intentions to fight woke ideology on its campus earlier in the month. The school had unveiled a new School Civic Life and Leadership School that the board believed would level the field when it comes to public discourse.
Prior to the change, diversity statements were a huge factor in the University of North Carolina Medical School’s hiring and promotion considerations. It was stated in the school’s Guidelines for Appointment, Promotion and Tenure that a statement that outlines “depth and breadth of efforts” in each DEI aspect is required as a buildup of an applicant or employee’s CV.
However, Color Us United, an organization that has been spearheading efforts to ban DEI in schools across America, said that one of the terrible things to infiltrate the medical profession is DEI and the woke culture.
“When we saw wokeness and DEI infiltrating the medical profession, that’s when we became concerned because medicine is the one place where everybody knows, liberals, conservatives, independents, that you need the most qualified doctor to get the best outcome,” President of the organization, Kenny Xu said to Fox News.
Xu added that it is worrisome for things to be taught “from the lens of social justice rather than the biological practice of medicine.”
The movement against wokeness in education seems to be gaining ground in North Carolina. Just last week, North Carolina State University scrapped a policy that required applicants to affirm the DEI agenda in a 250-word essay.
