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.

We, the members of the AAUP-UNC Chapel Hill chapter, demand the members of the Board of Trustees to reverse their vote to deny the appointment of Dr. Kiran Asher, but more broadly, we call on the Board to respect shared governance and academic freedom, key principles that will allow UNC to continue as one of the best public universities in the world.

Read the full AAUP statement.