University of North Carolina Bans Affirmative Action in Hiring and Contracting Decisions

The board of trustees of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill approved a resolution on July 27 prohibiting the university from considering race, sex, or ethnicity in admissions decisions. The resolution followed the recent Supreme Court decision involving the university that banned race-sensitive admissions.

This was no surprise. Soon after the Supreme Court decision, Chancellor Kevin M. Guskiewicz issued a statement that said “we will follow the Supreme Court’s decision in all respects. That means race will not be a factor in admissions decisions at the university. It also means we will comply with the Court’s ruling that an applicant’s lived racial experience cannot be credited as ‘race for race’s sake.'”

To soften the blow of the new policy, the chancellor added that “Carolina will provide free tuition and required fees for incoming undergraduates from North Carolina whose families make less than $80,000 per year. We have hired additional outreach officers as part of our admissions team. They are serving in under-resourced communities to spread awareness of our affordability and recruit students from across the state.”

But the board of trustees went even further in its recent resolution and banned the consideration of race in all hiring decisions for staff and faculty and in all contracting decisions. The resolution read in part: “The university shall not unlawfully discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, genetic information, or veteran status in its admissions, hiring, and contracting.”

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1 COMMENT

  1. It not as if UNC was bursting out of the seems with native born Black Faculty, administrators and support staff before this SC decision. I just bet those same racist White North Carolinians will not apply this to their men’s and women’s basketball, track & field and football team. It would be a great for sports in NC if all of the Black student-athletes at UNC entered the portal immediately and transferred to NCCU, NCAT, or WSSU.

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