Living in a city, state, nation and world that most nearly mimics the setting and the characters of the 2006 science-fiction comedy film “Idiocracy,” and immediately on the heels of often-antisemitic protests on the intolerant college campuses across the nation, it was encouraging to read of the courage of the University of North Carolina Budget, Finance and Infrastructure Committee to vote May 13 to divert $2.3 million in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives to “public safety” causes.

“The change is included in the university’s overall proposed 2024-25 budget,” The National Desk outlet noted later May 13. “The committee must next send the motion to the full Board of Trustees, which includes several members from the panel.”

As for the vote, TND reported that Vice Chair Marty Kotis said, “DEI in a lot of people’s minds is divisiveness, exclusion and indoctrination. We need more unity and togetherness, more dialogue, more diversity of thought.”

Meanwhile, “Chair David Boliek introduced the motion, arguing DEI programs were unproductive and produced little return on investment for taxpayers funding the public university,” TND noted. “He said the panel had the opportunity to lead on reallocating the funds following the Board of Governors Governance Committee’s unanimous April decision to replace UNC’s DEI policy with an ‘equality’ guideline.

“‘I think we have an opportunity to lead on this. We have an opportunity to be out front on this, and with the Board of Governors’ pending policy change, I think we’ll be in the clear to do that,’ Boliek said. ‘If something happens, the chancellor has management flexibility to pivot if he needs to.’”

The final vote on this matter by the UNC Board of Trustees is expected any time now and, as Kotis said, now is the time to prioritize public safety concerns over DEI policies that are discriminatory and divisive.