The Quad: A Professor v. His University

The Professor Who ‘Declared War’ on DEI

Some of you may remember when North Carolina State University announced updates to its strategic plan in late February. Previously, the university pledged to “champion a culture of equity, diversity, inclusion, belonging and well-being in all we do.” It revised the language to “champion a culture of equality, belonging and well-being.” Also around that time, sources told us that additional N.C. State websites and others across the UNC System had DEI-related language removed.

The university cited the UNC System’s equality policy, which replaced its former DEI policy last spring, as the reason for the change. But it was unclear why the change happened months after that policy had been implemented. 

One possible answer: Stephen Porter.

Porter, a longtime professor of higher education at N.C. State, lodged a complaint with the UNC System against his university in early February. He alleged that N.C. State’s strategic plans and various other websites contained DEI references, which he said violated state law and system policy. Porter also complained about the school’s pronoun policy and land acknowledgment statement.

A little more than two weeks later, N.C. State announced changes to its strategic plan that removed the language Porter took issue with in his complaint. Many of the websites and portions of other language Porter referenced have also vanished.

The UNC System and N.C. State did not respond to questions about Porter’s complaint. But it certainly wasn’t the only factor at play. Since January, President Trump has taken aim at diversity initiatives at every level, including directing colleges and universities to stop all race-conscious practices and cease using such language or lose federal funding.

In an interview, Porter said that while he hadn’t expected N.C. State to respond to his complaint, he still believes the university is largely “playing games with words” rather than making substantive changes surrounding DEI. But he holds another view that I think many faculty members would get behind: Faculty have felt in the dark about which federal or state policies are prompting various DEI-related changes in recent weeks.

“Is it the legislature? Is it the institutional neutrality policies, the Trump letter? It’d be nice to know,” he said. “It kind of makes it hard to work in the future, if you don’t really understand what the problem was.”

Read more here.

—Erin Gretzinger

–Name

Thanks for reading The Quad, a higher education newsletter written by Matt Hartman and Erin Gretzinger and edited by Emily Stephenson. Reach us with tips or ideas at highered@theassemblync.com.

Did someone forward this to you? Sign up here to get The Assembly’s weekly higher education newsletter.

Chris Clemens and the Uncivil Civics School

Chris Clemens helped start the School of Civic Life and Leadership. Before he stepped down as UNC-Chapel Hill’s provost, he was embroiled in a battle over hiring at the new school.

In a March email obtained by The Quad, SCiLL professor Dustin Sebell accused Clemens of attempting to secure SCiLL faculty positions for himself and his friends and trying to cancel a SCiLL faculty search in retaliation when it didn’t happen. 

Sebell did not offer any evidence for his claims and did not provide comment to The Quad. But the accusations come after a contentious faculty search that led multiple SCiLL-affiliated faculty to resign in protest of the school’s process.

Read more here.

–Matt Hartman

Reach our team with tips or ideas at highered@theassemblync.com.

Class Introductions

David Sigman, an independent college counselor in Denver, was named vice provost for enrollment management at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. 

Lori Bennear, a professor of energy economics and policy at Duke University, was named dean of the university’s Nicholas School of the Environment.

Patrick Crane, the vice president of strategic initiatives for the North Carolina Community College System, left the system office for a position at the Lumina Foundation.

Virginia Teachey, associate vice president for budget and finance at Penn State University, was named chief financial officer at North Carolina A&T State University.

(There will soon be a lot of new faces on boards of trustees across the UNC System. On Wednesday, the Board of Governors’ committee on university governance approved dozens of trustee nominations. The full board will vote to approve the slate of candidates today.)

–Erin Gretzinger

Assigned Reading

More Voided Visas: In addition to two student visas pulled at N.C. State last week, the visas of three Duke community members and six UNC-Chapel Hill students were revoked in recent days. A spokesperson for UNC-Greensboro told The Assembly that two students there also had their visas revoked. According to a tracker by Inside Higher Ed, nearly 450 international students at almost 100 colleges nationwide have had their legal status altered by the State Department.

A Cold Reality: As universities face federal funding uncertainty, WUNC reports that the UNC System’s in-state tuition freeze can be a “double-edged sword.” While low tuition is a high priority for the system, colleges can face challenges keeping up with inflation and other costs.

This Spells Trouble: Margaret Spellings, a former president of the UNC System who served as education secretary under President George W. Bush, told Politico that while she is “happily” not a university president today, she worries about how Trump’s agenda will impact K-12 schools and colleges.

Let us know what’s on your radar at highered@theassemblync.com.