The year is winding down, and while there were several major stories to come out of North Carolina higher education in 2024, perhaps the most notable was the repeal of diversity, equity and inclusion mandates in the UNC System.
The policy change came this spring and followed several other states around the country, including Florida and Texas, making similar moves to ban DEI at colleges and universities.
Of course, not everyone agreed with the change.
As I reported after a committee of the UNC System Board of Governors first considered the change in April, public comments submitted to the board overwhelmingly opposed the then-proposed changes to the system's DEI policy.
Now, there's a new sign that DEI remains popular among North Carolinians -- though, at the same time, they appear to be confused by what, exactly, DEI programming entails. That's according to the results of a post-election poll conducted by Meredith College, released last week.
In the new Meredith Poll, McLennan surveyed 800 registered North Carolina voters about a variety of topics, gauging their opinions on the outcome of the 2024 general election and hot-button issues during the campaign, such as immigration and tariffs.
The poll also included three questions about DEI in higher education.
To the first question, which asked voters if they supported or opposed DEI programs at North Carolina colleges and universities, 62% of respondents said they supported the programs. That's compared to 29% who said they opposed the programs, and 11% who said they didn't know.
McLennan noted there was a clear partisan divide on that question. Roughly 85% of Democrats surveyed supported DEI programs, while Republicans were more split, with roughly 46% saying they supported the programs, roughly 44% saying they opposed them, and the rest unsure.
But the results become more interesting for the other two DEI-related questions included in the poll.
The second question asked voters: Do you support or oppose the federal government penalizing North Carolina colleges and universities who have diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs on their campuses (e.g. taxing their endowments)?
In their responses, 41% of voters said they supported such measures, compared to 47% who said they opposed them and 12% who said they didn't know. Those numbers are noticeably different than the results of the first question, which McLennan sees as a potential sign of confusion among voters when it comes to DEI.
"We see the numbers change," McLennan said. "You would think they would remain fairly consistent."
Instead of fully grasping what DEI programs entail, McLennan thinks voters could instead be relying on political rhetoric to form their opinions of the efforts. Republicans have consistently campaigned against DEI and other programs or efforts they refer to as "woke," with President-elect Donald Trump at one point proposing a national, online university that would prohibit "wokeness." But voters may not fully understand DEI beyond that rhetoric, McLennan said.
"People just don't like it because [Trump] doesn't like it," McLennan said. "I don't know if, necessarily, people understand what it is on a college campus."
The third and final DEI-related question in the poll asked: Do you support or oppose the federal government setting standards for subject matter taught in North Carolina colleges or universities to reduce bias in the classrooms?
Nearly half, 49%, of voters said they would support such measures, compared to 38% who would oppose them and 14% who didn't know. At least half of both Democrats and Republicans surveyed said they supported such measures. (The question did not specify what type of bias might be reduced or list specific standards that might be employed.)
McLennan said the results of that question could point to voters' broader feelings about college campuses and the perception that they are generally liberal-leaning. Again, the results varied from the previous two questions on DEI -- pointing to voters' likely confusion or misconceptions about DEI programming, McLennan said.
"People really don't understand a whole lot about this," McLennan said. "They're really operating from very general political perceptions."
Still, the results of the last question could indicate that North Carolinians may support the federal government taking steps "to make colleges and universities more accountable," McLennan said.
NASA announced last week that the expected launch date for its Artemis II mission, in which Koch is slated to serve as a mission specialist, is delayed until April 2026. The mission, which will send astronauts back to the moon for the first time in more than 50 years, was originally expected to launch late this year before being delayed initially until September 2025.
When the Artemis II mission launches, Koch will become the first woman to orbit the moon. The following Artemis mission, for which a crew has not yet been announced, aims to land the first woman and first person of color on the moon's surface.
Koch holds three degrees from NC State and also attended the NC School of Science and Mathematics, the public, residential high school that is part of the UNC System. She grew up in Jacksonville.
Koch has already made history a handful of times as an astronaut, including by breaking the world record for the longest spaceflight by a woman and being part of the first all-female spacewalk, installing a solar power system for the International Space Station with fellow NASA astronaut Jessica Meir.
ICYMI: Catch up on this N&O story
Just before the Thanksgiving holiday, there was more news from Raleigh's St. Augustine's University. As the university continues to face financial issues and fight for its accreditation, my colleague Brian Gordon reports that the university plans to partner with a Florida-based developer to lease the university's land.
If you missed that story, you can find it here: St. Aug's partners with Florida sports venue developer to lease land in Raleigh
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