‘Gotta keep it quiet’: Dean of students who kept DEI alive at UNC reaps the whirlwind

The Supreme Court ruled in June 2023 that the University of North Carolina’s race-based admissions processes could not be reconciled with the guarantees of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Between the time of the high court’s decision and the Trump administration’s clampdown on federally funded schools with racist policies and programs, the UNC System has taken a number of actions to dismantle its DEI regime.

For instance, the UNC System’s board of governors voted in May 2024 to repeal and replace its policy requiring DEI at all public universities in the state; the university system eliminated scores of DEI-related jobs in September; and the system took further action to eliminate vestigial elements of its DEI regime to comply with the Trump administration’s requirements.

The dean of students at UNC Asheville recently revealed to an undercover journalist that despite the appearance of compliance, DEI still haunts the institution. Megan Pugh, co-author of chapters in the book “The Black Professional Guide to College Student Affairs” was, however, swiftly terminated following her admission.

‘So we’ve renamed, we’ve reorganized, we’ve recalibrated.’

In the footage captured by the conservative watchdog outfit Accuracy in Media, the undercover journalist tells Pugh, “I’m so glad that you guys are still doing equity work.”

“I mean, we probably still do anyway, but you know … gotta keep it quiet,” responded Pugh. “I love breaking rules.”

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Pugh, who claims in her LinkedIn bio to “center the teachings of black, queer, feminist scholars as well as other BIPOC thought leaders in my leadership, advocacy, and student engagement practices,” appears to suggest that the elimination of the DEI office on campus made it “easier to maintain” and that they will continue until “they get mad at us — but they haven’t done it yet.”

When asked whether the school is supportive of her efforts, Pugh answered in the affirmative.

Pugh suggested that while they have not engaged in implicit bias training since the spring, her “hope and intention is that we can still incorporate those things, like, even sort of under a broader banner of, like, I don’t know. I guess we’ll see where it fits, but I try to include those things wherever I can.”

Last month, Accuracy in Media published additional undercover footage that shows University of North Carolina at Charlotte assistant director of leadership and community engagement Janique Sanders — who received a certification in “anti-racism” from the school — similarly suggest that DEI activities were alive and well at UNC.

In the video, the undercover journalist asks Sanders whether “equity work is still happening.” Sanders responds, “So we’ve renamed, we’ve reorganized, we’ve recalibrated, so to speak … because language changes, right? But the people who have to be in the presence of, and in the space, don’t change.”

“I think that the guise that we’re using in some regard is like leadership — in order to lead diverse groups of people, you have to know about diverse groups of people,” continued Sanders. “We don’t have to call them ‘diverse groups of people.’ We can just say that everybody has different stocks of knowledge.”

“If you’re looking for, like, a outward DEI position, not going to happen,” said Sanders. “But if you are interested in doing work that is covert, there are opportunities.”

‘It’s time to clean house at the university level.’

The university has cut ties with both Sanders and Pugh.

UNC Asheville spokesman Brian Hart said in a statement to the Raleigh News & Observer that the university is “aware of a video in which an employee makes comments implying that the University does not comply with UNC System policies or legal requirements and supports employees disregarding such obligations.”

“These remarks do not represent the practices of UNC Asheville,” continued Hart. “The University remains firmly committed to upholding all UNC System policies as well as federal and state laws, both in principle and in practice.”

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Protesters demonstrate against President Trump after his first 100 days in office. Photo by DOMINIC GWINN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

Hart noted further that “following a prompt review of the matter,” Pugh “is no longer employed by the university.”

Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) told Fox News Digital, “The UNC System has made a good faith effort to get rid of DEI, but obviously the word has not reached the ears of UNC Asheville’s administration.”

“Dean Pugh is a picture-perfect example of how entrenched this caustic ideology really is within postsecondary education. It’s time to clean house at the university level and cast out personnel who believe they can act with blatant impunity,” added Foxx.

The efforts to preserve DEI on campus are not subversive only because of their ban by the UNC System but because they are, in practice, divisive and counterproductive.

A study published in November by the Network Contagion Research Institute and Rutgers University concluded that “while purporting to combat bias, some anti-oppressive DEI narratives can engender a hostile attribution bias and heighten racial suspicion, prejudicial attitudes, authoritarian policing, and support for punitive behaviors in the absence of evidence for a transgression deserving punishment.”

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