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In August, the Student Free Speech Alliance entered the funding process for student organizations at UNC. Funding for each organization is determined by the student government after an application process. In the fall 2023 semester, more than $900,000 was allocated to student organizations.
Because these allocations are drawn from revenues collected through mandatory student fees, UNC is bound by a standard of viewpoint neutrality when distributing funds. However, SFSA officers uncovered viewpoint-discriminatory criteria while applying for funding.
In an article about the issue, SFSA president Harrington Shaw states that “two Supreme Court decisions, Rosenberger v. University of Virginia and Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System v. Southworth, require, respectively, that funds must be distributed without regard to a student organization’s viewpoint and that students cannot be compelled to pay fees if funding criteria are not viewpoint-neutral.” However, Shaw notes that criteria listed on UNC’s 2023 funding website, specifically “diversity, equity, and inclusion,” violate this standard. He states that DEI, in particular, “manifestly enables viewpoint-discriminatory practices if used as a tool for evaluating student-organization funding requests.”
After bringing the issue to the attention of SFSA faculty advisor Mark McNeilly, who aided us in contacting relevant parties, UNC Student Life and Leadership staff brought the issue to the Student Government, which agreed to amend the Undergraduate Senate Budget Act. The amendment states that the offending subsections in Title VI are “struck in their entireties.” Funding criteria based upon “representation; vitality; specialization; diversity, equity, and inclusion; and sustainability” have been removed from UNC websites and Student Government funding resources.
This is an important victory for institutional neutrality and free expression
at UNC. We will continue the fight to ensure that all UNC students are able to speak freely and immerse themselves in an open educational environment on campus.
Thank you all for your continued support.