Straws in the Wind - Part 58

From The Assembly: The University of North Carolina System’s Board of Governors has directed the board of trustees at each campus to form a new subcommittee that will scrutinize compliance with diversity, equity, and inclusion policies...

The new trustee committees will receive briefings from their chancellor or the responsible senior administrator on training provided to staff about the equality policy, the responsibilities of any roles that were reassigned to other work, and the performance of “relevant” personnel. The panels will also receive reports on “updated institutional webpages and mission statements for programs, curriculum, and objectives.” ...

The directive also comes after Accuracy in Media, a conservative advocacy group, released secretly recorded videos from several UNC campuses that captured administrators talking about DEI efforts. Most of the administrators featured in the videos are no longer employed at those institutions, though the schools haven’t said whether they resigned or were fired. Republican state lawmakers have pointed to the videos as proof that DEI-related activities are continuing on campuses in violation of the UNC System’s policies...

The memo directed these new subcommittees to hold open-session briefings from chancellors on DEI compliance... “These confidential reviews should compare an individual’s prior position to his or her new responsibilities, including how the employee’s performance in that role has changed, and what safeguards exist to ensure an employee’s previous responsibilities do not continue in the present role... “Confidential briefings from the chancellor on any disciplinary action taken against personnel should occur at this time as well.” ...

Full story at https://www.theassemblync.com/education/higher-education/unc-board-of-governors-dei-compliance/.

From the Huffington Post: Brown University... announced a deal with the Trump administration to regain access to federal research funding and end investigations into alleged discrimination.

The Ivy League school agreed to pay $50 million to workforce development organizations in Rhode Island over 10 years as part of the agreement, along with other concessions in line with President Donald Trump’s political agenda. Brown will adopt the government’s definition of “male” and “female,” for example, and must remove any consideration of race from the admissions process.

The three-year deal has numerous similarities with one signed last week by Columbia University that the government called a roadmap for other universities. Unlike that agreement, however, Brown’s does not include an outside monitor.

The agreement with Brown restores dozens of grants and contracts that had been suspended during an investigation into Brown’s handling of allegations of antisemitism, including during pro-Palestinian protests on campus last spring. It also calls for the federal government to reimburse Brown for $50 million in unpaid federal grant costs.

Brown agreed to several measures aimed at addressing allegations of antisemitism on its campus in Providence, Rhode Island. The school said it will renew partnerships with Israeli academics and encourage Jewish day school students to apply to Brown. By the end of this year, Brown must hire an outside organization — to be chosen jointly by Brown and the government — to conduct a campus survey on the climate for Jewish students.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon said Brown’s deal ensures students will be judged “solely on their merits, not their race or sex.” ...

Full story at https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ap-us-trump-education-brown_n_688a8d56e4b07dfa117f1e76.