Ahead of the Board of Trustees meeting on November 11–12, 2026, the UNC-Chapel Hill chapter of the AAUP is presenting a letter to the members of the Board, which we will also send to each Trustee this afternoon. We are heartened by the midterm election results, not because we want one political party to intervene in academic affairs instead of another, but because we hope they will end all interference by politicians and other outside interests in the policies and curricula on our campus.

We call on each Trustee to endorse the following necessary actions:

1. Commit to campus policies conceived through faculty governance, produced in dialogue with our Chancellor and other campus administrators;
2. Defund the scandal-ridden and political boondoggle School of Civic Life and Leadership (SCiLL);
3. End false austerity measures (such as Service First) that have led to proposed cuts to staffing and graduate student funding amidst student enrollment increases and other revenue growth;
4. Confirm that accreditation will be a non-governmental, apolitical process, which is not the case with the proposed Commission on Public Higher Education; and
5. End interference in faculty hiring.

Last summer, an article in The News and Observer reported that at least three Trustees had expressed concerns that “the board meddles in matters beyond its purview.” We agree, and we urge those members to make their concerns known and to speak to these five critical points at this week’s meeting. As one Trustee wrote, “Reform is needed to make sure future boards are not overly influenced by outside political forces.” The time to undo this political interference, and the damage it has caused, begins now.

Read the full UNC-CH AAUP letter to the Board of Trustees.

In mid-October 2026 UNC announced a deal with the Department of Justice (DoJ) via a press release. In the press release Chancellor Lee Roberts claimed, “We’re proud to resolve [a range of] issues at Carolina in a way that protects our mission and affirms the civil rights of everyone in the community.”

Regardless of UNC’s motives or the nature of these Title VI complaints, the Chapel Hill chapter of the AAUP does not see this agreement as a proud moment for our University, nor do we think the agreement affirms the civil rights of all of our students.

We stand with student groups and alumni who have also expressed grave concerns over how this agreement will be implemented over the next two years. We aim to be vigilant in resisting any attempt at enforcement by UNC and the DoJ that violates the 1964 Civil Rights Act, creates an unsafe environment, or restricts academic freedom.

Read the full UNC-CH AAUP statement on UNC’s agreement with the Department of Justice.

On August 31st, several Black student organizations, including The Black Student Movement, the African Student Association, Historically Black at UNC, Sis2Sis, Black Pre-Law Student Association, and the UNC National Society of Black Engineers, were hosting a social event in Greenlaw Hall when an individual entered their meeting, shouted racial slurs, and physically threatened the students with “a makeshift incendiary device.”

The UNC-Chapel Hill Chapter of the AAUP stands with our students as they and faculty, staff and community members come to grips with this racist assault. We also urge the University to closely examine its response to this incident, working together with affected students. Racism, in any form, should have no place on our campus.

Read the full UNC-CH AAUP statement regarding this racist attack.