The numbers don’t justify UNC’s move to divert DEI funds to campus police | Opinion
With a statewide ban on diversity, equity and inclusion policies looming, the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees has decided the best course of action is to redirect the university’s DEI funds to the police.
The board unanimously voted Monday to divert the $2.3 million that UNC currently spends on DEI efforts toward police and “public safety” in the next fiscal year. The spending cut could jeopardize the existence of UNC’s Office of Diversity & Inclusion, which develops policies and resources that support underrepresented students and faculty.
Trustee Marty Kotis said that the money was necessary so law enforcement can “protect the campus” from people like the pro-Palestinian protesters who set up a solidarity encampment on the university’s main quad last month. Another trustee, Dave Boliek, told WRAL News that conversations about increasing funding for public safety began after the shooting that killed a professor last year, but the recent protests also factored into the decision.
But does the reality on the ground justify that decision?
Federal laws require universities to publicly release data about certain crimes that occur on or near their campuses, such as assault and burglary. Nearly half of all crimes reported on campus in 2022 (the university’s most recent crime report) were liquor law violations. Besides that, the most commonly reported incidents were rape and sexual assault, followed by burglary. An examination of available crime reports showed that crime rates at UNC have have remained largely consistent for the past decade, with some mild fluctuations from year to year. The exception is aggravated assault, which was higher in 2022 (there were 25) than in other years.
UNC also doesn’t appear to be underfunding public safety on its campus. UNC Police currently has a budget of about $14 million. Allocating another $2.3 million would amount to a 16% increase — a significant boost — and it would make UNC’s police budget larger than that of many schools UNC defines as official peer institutions. The University of Michigan allocates about $13.5 million to public safety for its Ann Arbor campus. The University of Wisconsin spends about $15 million, and the University of Illinois spends $13.5 million. All three of those schools have a larger undergraduate population than UNC does. The University of California, Berkeley spends a total of $18 million on community safety, though it also has a significantly larger undergraduate population. The 2020 budget for the University of Virginia’s police department was just $7.53 million.
That’s not to say that safety shouldn’t be a concern on UNC’s campus. The number of sexual assaults reported on campus is always disconcerting, and last year’s shooting undoubtedly left students feeling unsafe. But sexual assault and gun violence are pervasive issues that can’t simply be solved by throwing more money at campus police. Reporting from The News & Observer found that the pistol permit law repealed by Republican lawmakers last year might have prevented the purchase of the weapon used in the shooting.
Though trustees cited recent protests as a reason why campus law enforcement needs more funding, there’s nothing that suggests UNC lacks the ability or resources to contain protests. Police detained more than 30 pro-Palestinian demonstrators with zip ties, erected a massive fence around the quad to prevent future encampments and installed additional surveillance equipment throughout the area. Police have maintained a significant presence at subsequent demonstrations, as well. No injuries or significant damage has occurred from the protests.
Without some data-driven explanation, people might wonder why trustees are taking money from something that doesn’t appeal to conservative power brokers and giving it to something that does, even if it might not be necessary. Indeed, the decision was celebrated by those on the right, who have waged a war on DEI and “wokeism” across the country. Trustees condemned DEI programs as too “divisive,” but expanding the footprint of campus police is hardly unifying. It looks a lot more like reactionary political theater lamely disguised as “protection.”
There’s also something particularly cruel about the fact that money intended to help marginalized students feel safer and more welcome on campus will now go toward something that makes those students feel less safe and less welcome. Many of UNC’s DEI efforts were born from a desire to repair the university’s fraught relationship with Black and brown communities, which has deteriorated in part due to a lack of trust between students and campus police over perceived disparate treatment of pro-Confederate and anti-Silent Sam protesters. Dismantling those DEI efforts is bad enough, but dismantling them in favor of unnecessary policing is even more regressive. It’s a screaming reminder of just how hollow those commitments to diversity and inclusion were in the first place.
This story was originally published May 15, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
