Chancellor cites systemwide policy
Western Carolina University is closing its “diversity, equity, and inclusion” office, citing the University of North Carolina System Policy on Equality, which outlines commitments to free speech, academic freedom, nondiscrimination, and institutional neutrality.
The decision to close the Office of Intercultural Affairs follows a viral video released this month showing an administrator saying school officials embed DEI in campus programs despite a systemwide ban on the ideology. In addition, a federal investigation into the school’s alleged Title IX breach over a man in the women’s restroom is ongoing.
Chancellor Kelli Brown announced the closure in a message to staff and faculty Friday, according to ABC 13 News.
“Upon review of WCU’s student support functions, I have made the decision to close the Office of Intercultural Affairs (ICA) effective immediately. All funding for ICA will be reinvested in campus priorities that support UNC performance metrics,” Brown stated.
She also stated that the school is “restructuring … student support services to better align with the UNC System Policy on Equality.”
The office was established in 2010 as “a celebration of diversity, inclusion and expression,” according to a 2020 news release from the school.
“ICA came about as a merger of WCU’s Women’s Center and the Office of Multicultural Affairs, with a mission to help foster a campus environment where students from different backgrounds and cultural groups can feel appreciated, respected and valued,” the release states.
It also lists some of the programs the office has hosted, such as “Pride Week for the LBGTQ community; Martin Luther King Jr. commemorations in honor of the slain civil rights leader, Project Care initiatives to improve academic performance and the retention of underrepresented students; Native American Heritage Month and Black History Month.”
The university was recently featured in a covert video released by a conservative activist group, which claims that DEI initiatives persist in campus programs despite the system’s ban, The College Fix previously reported.
The nearly five-minute edited video shows WCU’s Director of Institutional Assessment Karen Price saying, “we’re trying to embed that kind of diversity, equity, inclusiveness across every area … it shouldn’t just be an office or a figurehead.” Price is no longer employed by the university.
The DEI office’s closure also comes amid a U.S. Department of Education investigation into alleged breaches of revised Title IX regulations.
The school is being accused of allowing a trans-identifying male to use a women’s restroom on campus after student Payton McNabb posted a video online confronting the man, The Fix reported.
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IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: Note of WCU’s ICA office announcing closure; WLOS News 13/Youtube