That dialogue continued Wednesday, with students and faculty speaking out about the issue.

Two faculty leaders told The N&O Wednesday that, to their knowledge, faculty were not consulted on the policy or informed about it prior to it being added to the meeting materials Tuesday afternoon. The policy was not included in the materials when they were first posted last week.

Beth Moracco, faculty chair at UNC-Chapel Hill, said the new proposal took “us as a surprise,” and the quick turnaround from the policy being introduced to being voted on means that she and other faculty “have not really had a chance to digest and react to it.”

Wade Maki, a UNC Greensboro professor who chairs the UNC System Faculty Assembly, said faculty “look forward to having an opportunity to engage” with board members on the policy now that conversations around it have started publicly. Maki said he is under the impression that faculty and campuses will be able to provide input and feedback soon, likely in a forum outside of a formal board meeting.

Some faculty are concerned about the policy “because diversity is a key value” of many people in the system, Maki said.

“It’s foundational to what we do,” he said. “And it’s going to continue to be.”

The College Democrats of North Carolina urged students on X, formerly Twitter, to “stand up to the UNC Board of Governors” and “save programs on your campus” by contacting the UNC System office and Hans.

Jack Yordy, an Appalachian State University student who is also the state council chair for the state College Democrats, told The N&O that the policy is “kind of like another target of right-wing outrage of the month.” Yordy compared the move to previous legislation and policies in North Carolina and across the country targeting critical race theory, or CRT, and “woke and cancel culture.”

Yordy said ending diversity and inclusion efforts on campuses would have “an actual, real impact on the safety and well-being of students.”

“We want our college campuses to be a welcoming and safe place,” Yordy said.

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