UNC Athletics celebrated Pride month in social media post. Now, it’s deleted.
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- UNC-Chapel Hill athletics posted a Pride month graphic on June 1 and later deleted it.
- UNC Greensboro’s athletics department posted a Pride message on June 1, then deleted it.
- June 2024 guidance advises avoiding statements on external matters of social policy.
“The Tar Heels are for everyone.”
That was the caption of a June 1 post from UNC-Chapel Hill’s athletics X account, @goheels. The post featured a graphic of North Carolina with the university’s signature argyle pattern running through its center — but this time in rainbow colors.
Now, that post is deleted.
“The social post in question was taken down because it violated the UNC System’s Equality Policy, which requires neutrality on political and social issues,” a university spokesperson told The News & Observer.
A similar phenomenon occurred at UNC Greensboro. A June 1 post from the university’s Athletics Department celebrating Pride month has disappeared. In response to an inquiry from The N&O, a spokesperson for UNCG cited the same system policy that UNC-Chapel Hill did.
While UNC-Chapel Hill’s post saw some support, with comments like “Happy Pride, y’all” and “Yes! Second team to post and I love this one,” it also drew criticism.
Margo Ackiss, a conservative activist in Western North Carolina, posted screenshots of both the UNC-Chapel Hill and UNC Greensboro posts.
“The UNC University system refuses to adhere to the policies and the laws provided by [sic] they’re own boards and legislators,” Ackiss wrote on X Thursday. “This is what’s wrong — the UNC university system will flaunt resistance until they get told they can’t and, yet, there’s no consequences. They need to fined and reprimanded.”
UNC System equality policy
In 2024, the UNC System enshrined an equality policy that replaced policies mandating diversity, equity, and inclusion practices. The new policy requires institutional neutrality — meaning campuses should avoid taking positions on matters of “social policy” or “political controversies of the day.” A separate institutional neutrality policy in a 2023 state law has similar requirements.
“The UNC Board of Governors Equality Policy commits the university to institutional neutrality,” UNC System spokesperson Andy Wallace told The N&O in an email Thursday. “Campus efforts to ensure compliance will remain a continuous process.”
In June 2024, the UNC System sent out a document of guidance for campuses as they went about implementing the new policy. It recommends that universities should avoid “issuing public statements on an external matter of public concern. ... the more frequently campuses refrain from speaking in the name of the University or one of its sub entities, the easier the practice will become.”
The guidance asks campuses to evaluate whether a public statement is really necessary. If it really must make a statement, it advises avoiding controversial topics.
“First, campuses should reject the premise that making a public statement is the only way to support a particular group of students,” it reads. “Second, if a campus chooses to speak in support of its students, the statements should focus on just that — the affected students — without delving into political, policy, or social advocacy.”
This story was originally published June 4, 2026 at 4:58 PM.
