New NC law tightens campus DEI bans, placing new limits on ‘divisive concepts’
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- The law bans DEI programs and promotion of “divisive concepts” at public colleges.
- The law bars campus processes for reporting or investigating offensive speech.
- Colleges cannot compel affirmation of divisive concepts.
A new North Carolina law, enshrined Wednesday, cements existing bans on diversity, equity and inclusion programs across the state’s public universities and community colleges.
It also bars the promotion of “divisive concepts” at the state’s public universities and community colleges. Though N.C. Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, previously vetoed the bill, Republican lawmakers overrode that effort Wednesday.
The new law also outlaws campuses from having any formal process to report or investigate offensive speech protected by the First Amendment, “including satire or speech labeled as microaggression.”
The UNC System already has a DEI ban in place. In 2024, it replaced its policies mandating DEI practices with an Equality Policy that requires institutional neutrality — meaning campuses should avoid taking positions on matters of “social policy” or “political controversies of the day.” After the Equality Policy took effect, dozens of DEI-related jobs and programs were eliminated across the UNC System.
Beyond UNC System policy
Now, much of that System policy is law. But the law also extends beyond the policy.
Woody White, a Wilmington lawyer and member of the UNC System’s Board of Governors who helped refine the System’s existing anti-DEI policy, told The News & Observer that the new law “applies — in different, broader ways — than does the [Board of Governors’] neutrality policy that the [Board] passed in 2024, and it is yet to be seen to what extent they will interact with each other.”
The new law will require the Board of Governors to adopt a new policy, he said.
The law prohibits colleges from compelling students and staff to affirm belief in “divisive concepts,” and it bars colleges from requiring a course on those concepts for a degree — unless a chancellor specifically approves it. Classroom instruction on these concepts is permitted as long as its clear the college is not endorsing them.
Those “divisive concepts” include ideas like the inherent superiority of one race or sex and the denial of equal protection under the law, along with concepts such as:
- “An individual, solely by virtue of his or her race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive;”
- “An individual, solely by virtue of his or her race or sex, bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex” and “should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress” as a result of their race or sex;
- “A meritocracy is inherently racist or sexist;”
- “The United States was created by members of a particular race or sex for the purpose of oppressing members of another race or sex;”
- “The rule of law does not exist but instead is a series of power relationships and struggles among racial or other groups.”
The law prohibits colleges from maintaining an office based on those concepts and from employing anyone whose duties include promoting them.
At the state House Wednesday, House Majority Leader Brenden Jones said universities should teach students “how to think,” not “requir[e] them to repeat political doctrine,” The N&O reported.
State law already bans the promotion of these concepts in state government workplaces.
UNC free speech incidents
The new prohibition on reporting processes or investigations into “offensive or unwanted speech ... including satire or speech labeled as microaggression” comes after a series of high-profile incidents at UNC-Chapel Hill this spring.
After late-night-style campus sketch comedy group Hill After Hours posted a video many considered offensive, the university announced it was investigating the registered student organization. However, after the Foundation for Individual Rights and Free Expression called on UNC to halt that investigation, the school said that no such investigation was underway.
UNC also issued a statement on the student newspaper’s April Fools’ edition, which included a satirical article about Immigration and Customs Enforcement coming to Chapel Hill, among other stories that drew widespread criticism. “The articles published on April 1 were highly inappropriate and offensive.... while the pieces were meant to represent satire, they were harmful and we unequivocally condemn them,” James Orr, senior vice provost for student success, wrote in a statement at the time.
Republican lawmakers also overrode gubernatorial vetoes on DEI bans in K-12 schools and local government Wednesday.
This story was originally published June 25, 2026 at 2:43 PM.
