How Extensive Is DEI “Training” in the UNC System?

James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal ^ | July 17, 2023 | Ashlynn Warta

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This session, the North Carolina legislature has taken aim at Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) trainings on UNC-System campuses. On March 14th, Senate Majority Staff Director Derrick Welch sent a letter to the UNC System requesting a list of all employee trainings on that topic from 2023 and the previous three years.

Since DEI in higher ed is a matter of continuing interest for the Martin Center, we promptly sent public-records requests to the UNC System and its 16 constituent institutions, requesting all responses sent to Welch and the legislature.

At the time of this article’s publication, 12 of the 17 public-records requests had been fulfilled. We received responses from the UNC System itself, North Carolina A&T, NC State, UNC Asheville, UNC-Chapel Hill, UNC Charlotte, UNC Greensboro, UNC School of the Arts, UNC Wilmington, Western Carolina University, and Winston-Salem State University. Responses from Appalachian State University, East Carolina University, Elizabeth City State University, Fayetteville State University, and NC Central University were not received by the time of publication.

The data below show each institution’s figures, as well as those of the UNC System, and include the number of trainings offered, the number of required trainings, and the total cost.

Unfortunately, the specific dates of each training event and their frequency were not clearly provided to the Martin Center or the General Assembly, so it is difficult to say if the “total costs” below are annual expenses or the total from four years of DEI instruction. Some of the trainings and costs specify that they are indeed annual, but others appear to be one-off events or expenses. Regardless, it is impossible not to conclude that there are a large number of DEI trainings being offered at UNC-System institutions and that they are costing a pretty penny.

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