DEI: Duke investigation, Red Hat rollback, UNC-CH faculty provost | Four anti-DOGE protests in Raleigh
No. 115 — Mar. 9-Mar. 15, 2025
Duke under federal crosshairs for DEI "race-exclusionary practices"
US Dept. of Education investigating Duke as part of sweeping anti-DEI changes under Trump - N&O
Duke among 45 schools under federal investigation for alleged race-based discrimination in graduate programs - The Chronicle
Office for Civil Rights Initiates Title VI Investigations into Institutions of Higher Education - U.S. Department of Education
The Trump administration is moving ahead with it's efforts to use the civil rights bureaucracy to end the pervasive anti-white discrimination of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs at universities across the country.
Duke University is one of 45 universities being investigated by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights over their partnerships with The PhD Project, an organization which helps students obtain doctoral degrees, but "limits eligibility based on the race of participants," according to the DoE.
The PhD Project's "educational funding" page lists grants which are specifically oriented towards women, American Indians, African Americans, Hispanics, etc. as well as the general "diverse backgrounds," which tends to refer to anyone who is not a straight white male.
Red Hat ditches DEI
Red Hat parent IBM drops DEI hiring incentive, erases diversity from new annual report - N&O
Open Source: IBM was all about discussing diversity 5 years ago. Things have changed. - N&O
The sea-change in DEI marked by the federal administration change has not been limited to institutions directly touched by federal influence.
In 2023, an investigation by James O'Keefe revealed that Raleigh-based IBM subsidiary Red Hat pushed DEI via management by providing bonuses to executives to meeting quotas and firing managers who didn't get in line; a leaked “Allyship Commandments” document from Red Hat also included such statements as "only WHITE people are racist." (Red Hat was also sued last year by America First Legal for discrimination along these lines.)
Red Hat and its parent company IBM are now indicating a shift away from DEI, with the term "diversity" entirely missing from the 2024 annual report.
However, shifting terminology is no guarantee of an actual shift in policy; the history of terms like Critical Race Theory shows that academia, corporate consulting, and bureaucracy are capable of shifting the terms commonly used for the same neo-Marxist ideas when a particular acronym has attracted too much toxicity in the public consciousness.
UNC-Chapel Hill hiring ran by DEI researcher
KISSEL: UNC Chapel Hill has a DEI radical running faculty hiring and promotion - North State Journal
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is known as a hotbed of leftist extremism and, as an opinion piece this week by former Department of Education official Adam Kissel reminds us, that ideological capture stretches from the undergraduate students to nearly the pinnacle of university leadership.
Dr. Giselle Corbie, the vice provost of faculty affairs at UNC-CH, is also the Director of UNC's Center for Health Equity Research. As the name of the center might suggest, Corbie has firmly taken the neo-Marxist position of setting equality of outcome aka "equity" as the goal.
Along those lines, Corbie has rejected the "fallacy of meritocracy" in favor of DEI hiring practices, prioritizing the matching of demographics between faculty and students over hiring the best qualified candidates for university positions.
Corbie has also promoted the use of racially discriminatory criteria to prioritize the discrimination of healthcare criteria: "we need to use strategies that ensure those who are most in need in historically marginalized communities are given preference."
ICYMI: JoCo Sheriff's Office doxxes owner of anonymous "parody" Facebook page
This week, it was revealed that the Johnston County Sheriff's Office had used its governmental power to obtain the identity of an anonymous Facebook "parody" page, which it then provided to complainants who took issue with the page's contents, despite a finding that the material was constitutionally protected.
The North Carolina constitution, like the federal constitution, contains protections for free speech and freedom of the press. Courts have found that these protections include anonymous and pseudonymous publication, and that they especially apply to criticism of elected officials.
So, when a government agency uses state power to unmask an anonymous citizen for non-criminal speech on the basis of who has complained about that speech ("a law enforcement officer, school teacher or elected official"), it is especially concerning:
Protest Watch
Federal workers slam DOGE’s closures of Social Security offices and other cuts in NC - N&O
On Sunday, union leaders and activists from local chapters of federal unions such as the American Federation of Government Employees Local 3509 and the American Postal Workers Union Local 1078 gathered in front of the Terry Sanford federal building in Raleigh to decry the staffing/budget cuts and office closures.
Signs featured messages supporting federal workers and opposing Elon Musk.
NC Democratic Party organizes anti-DOGE rally
Democrats organize rally in Raleigh opposing DOGE, federal cuts; NCGOP dismisses it as 'stunt' - ABC11
‘Down with DOGE’ rally draws hundreds to downtown Raleigh, protesting federal cuts - WRAL
DOGE’s critics — plus a few puppets — rally in Raleigh to protest ‘craziness’ in DC - N&O
Wednesday saw hundreds of protesters in attendance at a rally planned by the North Carolina Democratic Party in opposition to President Trump, Elon Musk, and the Department of Government Efficiency.
The event featured Democrat members of the General Assembly such as Sen. Graig Meyer, Sen. Natalie Murdock, and Rep. Rodney Pierce, as well party chair Anderson Clayton.
The rally also included giant puppet caricatures of Trump, Musk, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Anti-Tesla protest
On Friday, protesters gathered outside the Tesla showroom in Raleigh as part of the nationwide "Tesla Takedown" protest scheduled for the day. This protest, like the previous event at the same location, appears to have been organized by "Engaged Durhamites for Democracy."
Although there has been politically motivated vandalism of Tesla vehicles and Tesla locations across the country, and there was a viral clip of the Tesla Takedown founder appearing to support vandalism, the protest in Raleigh appears to have featured no such behavior.
In response to the protest, at least one Tesla supporter stopped by to drop off donuts for the staff at the Raleigh location:
Just dropped off a dozen donuts to the Tesla center in Raleigh to thank them for putting up with the protesters.
Police presence is all over the place ready to arrest the unruly.
Support your local Tesla Center. Have a great weekend. pic.twitter.com/evUOXwFYdg
— Doctor Jack (@DoctorJack16) March 14, 2025
Veterans protest Trump, Musk, Doge
Friday also featured a fourth protest along the same lines in Raleigh, this time themed around veterans and their supporters. The protest reportedly featured over a hundred participants at the State Capitol in Raleigh, which happened alongside parallel events including a national march in Washington DC.
Signs at the rally include messages regarding oaths to the constitution, the VA, and veterans losing their jobs in federal staffing cuts.