Campus Files — "Goodbye, DEI" (Sept 10, 2025)
Podcast Host: Margo Gray | Producer: Audacy
Topic: The rapid rise and fall of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in North Carolina’s public universities
Episode Overview
This episode of Campus Files explores the recent and dramatic rollback of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) across North Carolina’s public universities. Host Margo Gray, joined by higher ed reporters and student journalists, investigates how DEI programs—once considered mainstream and even championed by conservatives—became a lightning rod in America’s culture wars. The story follows the political maneuvers behind these changes, the human impact on campuses, covert resistance efforts, the wave of “undercover journalism,” and the climate of fear now palpable among faculty and students.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. The Secret’s Out: DEI Work Goes Underground
- [01:05] The episode opens with an incident at UNC Charlotte: Jeannique Sanders, an administrator, is secretly filmed admitting that while DEI is officially gone, covert opportunities remain.
- “So, we’ve renamed it. We’ve revised it, we’ve recalibrated it, so to speak.” — Jeannique Sanders
- “If you are interested in doing work that is covert, there are opportunities. The word of the year is finesse.” — Jeannique Sanders
- Result: Video goes viral. Jeannique is fired. Sets the stage for the episode’s exploration of what happens when culture war politics target education.
2. What is DEI and How Did It Take Center Stage?
- [03:01] Erin, higher ed reporter, explains DEI grew from the Civil Rights era into efforts to support underrepresented groups through programming, financial aid, and campus culture shifts.
- “How do we create a culture that supports a broad range of students ... like identity-based student groups helping students connect?” — Erin [03:58]
- Initially, DEI work avoided controversy—even Republican-controlled governing boards promoted it as recently as 2019 and 2021.
3. The George Floyd Effect and the DEI Boom
- [05:09] The 2020 murder of George Floyd leads to a nationwide surge in DEI initiatives.
- “Suddenly, corporations, government agencies, and universities were all grappling with the same urgent question: how do we address systemic racism?” — Margo Gray [05:14]
- Over $1.7 billion pledged by corporations for racial justice.
4. The Political Backlash & Anti-DEI Legislation
- [07:25] By 2023, “the tides were beginning to shift” (Erin), as conservative think tanks began to spread model anti-DEI legislation.
- North Carolina lawmakers and the Board of Governors quickly follow the lead of states like Florida and Texas.
- [09:02] The Board of Governors votes to eliminate DEI programming—before any state law mandates it.
5. How the Ban Hit: UNC Chapel Hill as Case Study
- [13:17] Reagan, student editor, describes UNC Chapel Hill’s progressive bubble clashing with state politics.
- “Our administration is kind of subject to the whims of the legislature ... a lot of the friction and the tension has been.” — Reagan [14:16]
- Programs deeply embedded in campus life: course requirements, hiring practices, student life.
- [15:19] The fallout: $5.4 million cut, 20 positions eliminated, 27 reassigned overnight.
- [15:34] Immediate ripple effect to classroom requirements; DEI themes quietly rebranded but not necessarily removed.
- “I don’t think we are completely erasing anything ... just trying to rename things.” — Reagan [16:22]
6. The ‘Accuracy in Media’ Sting Videos
- [17:14] Accuracy in Media, a conservative watchdog, uses undercover journalism to “expose” faculty discussing ongoing DEI work under new names across several NC universities.
- Videos go viral, lead to firings or resignations for at least three faculty within days.
- [22:55] “Faculty were extremely skeptical that you could have an investigation that was thorough and fair hours after a video emerges ... and now they’re no longer employed.” — Erin
7. Confusion, Fear, and the Chilling Effect
- [23:11] Faculty and administrators describe wide confusion about what counts as DEI and growing fear of scrutiny or termination.
- “It’s like you’re driving on the road. You know there’s a lot of police officers around, but you don’t know the speed limit … You’re just trying not to be the fastest car on the road.” — Faculty Assembly Chair Wade, paraphrased by Erin [24:16]
- Professors proactively scrub syllabi and course descriptions to avoid risk.
- Students fear departments (such as Africana Studies) could be shuttered.
8. Official Response: ‘Nothing Has Changed’
- [26:26] University says classes are still available; only mandates have changed. Professors and students remain skeptical, noting real changes in what is required and taught.
- “Academic freedom remains untouched ... No one should worry that their education has been compromised in any way.” — Dean of Undergraduate Education, UNC Chapel Hill [26:51]
- “It’s the fear. It’s the chilling effect.” — Erin [27:24]
9. The New Compliance Committees
- [28:02] UNC quietly introduces new oversight: each campus forms a committee to evaluate DEI compliance, with faculty jobs at stake for non-compliance.
- “It was just posted at the bottom of a webpage that we stumbled upon ... to determine whether DEI has truly been eliminated.” — Reagan [28:19]
- First compliance reports submitted September 1, 2025.
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
- “The word of the year, she said, is finesse.” — Margo Gray, describing covert DEI work [01:51]
- “DEI really was something that there was broad consensus on ... even as the purple state with a Republican-led legislature.” — Reagan [07:03]
- “People questioning ... what really is this work, what is a political litmus test versus what is student support?” — Erin [07:25]
- “You just might see it called different things.” — Western Carolina faculty (as cited by Margo Gray) [19:19]
- “Is that something that had to be changed? Or is that exempt because students don’t have to take that major?” — Erin, on confusion over new DEI rules [23:43]
- “One story that sticks out ... is at UNC Charlotte, there was a student ... who decided to return ... to finish her degree because she thought that this degree might not be offered much longer. And I think that’s really telling.” — Reagan [25:48]
- “After all, if you’re a department chair, why prioritize a class that’s no longer required and is under scrutiny by the board?” — Margo Gray [25:33]
- “It’s much different to see it come to your home state ... and the impacts of that on individual employees. It’s the fear. It’s the chilling effect.” — Erin [27:24]
Timeline of Key Events
- 2019: UNC Board of Governors (Republican majority) expands DEI programming
- 2020: George Floyd’s murder prompts nationwide surge in DEI
- 2023: Political opposition to DEI grows; anti-DEI legislation templates circulate
- Early 2025: UNC Board of Governors preemptively bans all DEI programming/systemwide
- Spring 2025: Secret videos of faculty admitting to continuing DEI circulate; multiple firings/resignations
- June–September 2025: UNC system implements compliance committees for ongoing oversight
Major Takeaways
- The rise and dismantling of DEI in North Carolina higher education was sudden and largely driven by external political forces, not internal campus debates.
- Even as formal DEI is banned, much of the work is being covertly continued, although under increasing threat.
- “Undercover journalism” efforts by groups like Accuracy in Media are creating a climate of fear and leading to rapid job losses for faculty.
- The uncertainty around the rules—and the new compliance bodies—have created a chilling effect, leading to preemptive self-censorship and fear for the viability of certain disciplines and programs.
Final Thoughts
This episode provides a nuanced, human-focused look at a national debate playing out in real time, showing both how political maneuvers impact campus realities and how students, faculty, and administrators are adapting, resisting, or leaving. It’s a cautionary tale of how culture wars reverberate far beyond the headlines, reshaping American higher education in profound and often unseen ways.