North Carolina faculty concerned about political interference in higher education

Though not all of the bills have passed and become laws, Palm said the process is wearing faculty thin.

“There's a real sense of fatigue, exhaustion, of constantly being on the defensive and having to push back from these attacks,” Palm said.

To members of the UNC AAUP chapter, one of the most blatant examples of political interference in higher education is happening on their own campus. After UNC’s Board of Trustees announced their proposal for the School of Civic Life and Leadership in January, the board’s chair David Boliek introduced it as a conservative center for the campus when he was interviewed days later on Fox and Friends.

“We … have no shortage of left-of-center, progressive views on our campus, like many campuses across the nation. But the same really can’t be said about right-of-center views,” Boliek said in the interview. “So this is an effort to try to remedy that with the School of Civic Life and Leadership, which will provide equal opportunity for both views to be taught.”

The state legislature designated $2 million in 2023-24 and 2024-25 in their state budget this year to go ahead with creating the new school, despite criticism from faculty.

Palm believes these political moves have already had consequences.

“Whether or not the school ends up being the conservative balance that they clearly want it to be, they're making UNC a whiter place,” Palm said. “Fewer students of color are applying, are being admitted, are staying, and faculty of color are leaving.”

Private school oasis

While faculty at public institutions are struggling with political interference, it’s likely that some faculty at private colleges and universities enjoy some refuge from the direct attacks by the state assembly, according to Smith.

“I haven't heard much from instructors or professors at private schools in this scene,” Smith said. “What we're going through right now with this assault by our legislature features especially public universities, public colleges, because we're the ones who are dependent on state support for our operations.”

At Elon University — a private school just 45 minutes away from Chapel Hill — faculty say though the legislative moves are concerning, it doesn’t directly affect their teaching.

President of Elon’s AAUP chapter and astrophysics professor Anthony Crider said there’s a clear difference in the priority of concerns after speaking with other chapters.

“It doesn't mean that we shouldn't be cause for concern, but something that is impacting us on a day to day basis,” Crider said. “And so when we have controversy issues with the AAUP, we focus for the launch after we tend to focus on the things that are happening on our campus and conversations that are happening among the faculty on our campus.”

Elon University professor Margaret Chapman teaches women and gender studies and said she’s grateful to not have to worry about the state telling her what to teach.

“I teach courses that right now in the state of Florida, I couldn't teach,” Chapman said. “They're saying that you can't teach about intersectionality, you can't teach about systemic oppression and structural inequality, … and so they're sort of taking away the ability to transmit disciplinary knowledge or interdisciplinary knowledge.”

In Chapman’s WGS1100: Sex and Gender class, her students are currently reading books by Kimberlé Crenshaw, a Black feminist author who coined the term “intersectionality.” Crenshaw’s work is among those banned for high school students by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “Stop Woke Act” in March. The same law also targeted public colleges in the state until that portion was blocked by the court of appeals.

Chapman said her class focuses heavily on the intersections of race, sex and gender. But if legislation similar to Florida’s is introduced in North Carolina, her curriculum may not be allowed at a public university. At a private university, however, Chapman said she feels somewhat confident that her class will be protected.

Private colleges and universities may be insulated from state meddling, but Chapman said whether an institution receives funding from the state or from private donors, it will always have to answer to someone. 

“Everyone's sort of dependent on money,” Chapman said. “Some of Elon's donors may be unhappy with how Elon does things and that may impact stuff.”

Though North Carolina has not passed as significant restrictions on curriculum as Florida, Palm is wary of the future.

“Unless there is sufficient resistance among the students and faculty and citizens, yes, that is the direction I see North Carolina moving in,” Palm said.

At UNC, Palm said, he’s already seeing things move in that direction — pointing to a new system-wide policy that banned diversity, equity and inclusion statements as “compelled speech.” A bill introduced to the general assembly this session aims to write that ban on compelled speech into law.

To stay or to leave

One of the questions asked of faculty in the AAUP survey is, “In response to changes to tenure, contracts, and academic freedom, would you encourage a graduate student or faculty colleague in another state to seek employment in your current state?”

In North Carolina, 58% of respondents said no, they would not.

But despite the survey response, North Carolina is still very much on the radar of faculty respondents who indicated they have already interviewed for new jobs in higher education since 2021 in all surveyed states. Respondents reported applying the most to institutions in only three states — California, New York and Massachusetts — more often than North Carolina.

Palm said though he hasn’t discouraged anyone from applying to or accepting a job in the state, the political climate is something to be aware of.

“I have wanted to make sure that they're abundantly clear about what the situation is, and they usually are,” Palm said.

While some faculty may be telling their peers not to come, others are considering leaving themselves. But they may not have to leave the state for relief from the political interference. Anecdotally, Palm said, a large portion of the faculty he knows who have left have gone to private colleges or universities.

Of the 33 survey respondents from private colleges and universities in North Carolina, only four indicated that they have interviewed for a job at institutions out of state since 2021 — compared to 46 out of 166 from public colleges and universities.

“That's a very small number,” Smith said. “It suggests that — I'm sure they've got their own grievances and some of them are unsatisfied, too — but at least this wave of political meddling that has washed over the state in the past year has left them largely untouched, it seems.”

Crider said he’s curious whether that number is just the number of professors who would be looking at other jobs for any reason in any given year.

“For most privates, almost no professors would be turning over because usually, like in my 20 years here, it's rare,” Crider said. “Especially after they're tenured.”

Going into the next hiring cycle or academic year, only 3 of 32 private university professors in North Carolina indicated that they will be interviewing out of state, whereas 55 of 155 public institution professors indicated the same.

UNC history professor Erik Gellman said though leaving North Carolina might ease the discomfort of working under the state’s interference, he would rather stay and fight the meddling on the front lines.

“I don't hold a grudge against anyone who filled out that survey and said, ‘Yes, I am actively looking to go somewhere else,’” Gellman said. “I find that sad and tragic. But I understand.” 

Here to stay

While North Carolina’s state legislature has started ramping up on higher education, institutions in other states have been dealing with similar meddling. And as more legislation continues to be introduced, Smith said he wants people to know that these bills popping up across the southeast are not random — it’s a coordinated attack, Smith said. 

“It's just very worrying because higher education, the institution of higher education, has been one of the under disputable success stories of modern American history,” Smith said. “Why they're trying to kill the goose that laid the golden egg is a big mystery to us.”