South Raleigh News

Governor Roy Cooper and former UNC System President Tom Ross have voiced their concerns over the UNC System Board of Governors' attempts to abolish positions and initiatives that promote diversity at public universities in North Carolina.

“Our diversity should be used to highlight our state’s strengths, not our political divisions. Republican legislative and university leaders who attack diversity at our public universities are failing in their duty to protect students while threatening our ability to recruit top scientists, researchers and innovators who power our economy,” Governor Cooper expressed.

Former UNC System President Tom Ross echoed these sentiments, stating, “The bipartisan Commission on the Governance of Public Universities found that a lack of diversity among university leadership and governance boards is both a disservice to students across the UNC System and leads to the controversy and volatility that we are seeing threaten our public universities. Our universities should encourage diversity on their campuses and governance boards and have leaders, administrators, faculty and staff that reflect the extraordinary diversity of our amazing state.”

Governor Cooper had established the Commission on the Governance of Public Universities in North Carolina through Executive Order 272 in 2022, with the aim of advising on the state of public university governance and strategies for future student needs. The bipartisan Commission, led by former UNC System Presidents Tom Ross and Margaret Spellings, produced seven key recommendations for the continued strength of the public university system.

The statements from Governor Cooper and former President Tom Ross come in response to the ongoing efforts within the UNC System Board of Governors to eliminate positions and initiatives promoting diversity, a move that they believe could have detrimental effects on both the student body and the state's academic community.