UNC stands apart
Published May 13, 2016
Editorial by Greensboro News-Record, May 13, 2016.
The University of North Carolina is “truly caught in the middle,” its president, Margaret Spellings, said Monday. It is committed to following federal laws but obliged to obey state laws.
North Carolina’s House Bill 2 conflicts with federal laws, the U.S. Justice Department contends, putting the state at risk of losing billions of dollars from Washington — although not before legal disputes are settled, the administration said Thursday. In any case, UNC should be spared. It’s trying to do the right thing.
A federal suit alleges that UNC, by implementing and complying with the provisions of HB 2, violates Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which bars sex discrimination.
In a letter to the Justice Department Monday, Spellings pleaded that UNC policy prohibits discrimination “on the basis of, among other things, gender identity, sex, or sexual orientation.” Significantly, she also pointed out what many people in North Carolina have overlooked: HB 2 includes no enforcement mechanism. The university, therefore, “has not taken any steps to enforce the statute’s requirements on its campuses.”
In an April memo to chancellors, Spellings made another important observation: “State and federal law protects personal privacy and limits the personal information that may be requested and/or disclosed by the university concerning students, employees, visitors, patients and others.”
These facts add up to this: UNC will not make the gender-identity judgments required by HB 2 because it can’t. It won’t ask to see birth certificates or otherwise violate anyone’s privacy. It is doing its best to fully comply with all federal laws.
That’s a brave stance by Spellings and the UNC Board of Governors, which met Tuesday and affirmed its support for her. Board members are appointed by the Republican legislature. Last year, the board hired Spellings, a former U.S. education secretary during the George W. Bush administration, and she just started March 1. HB 2 was dropped in her lap three weeks later.
Despite their Republican connections, Spellings and the UNC board must be independent of political influence. The university system can’t operate at the direction of the legislature or the governor. Its mission is to serve the people of this state and provide a positive environment for learning, teaching and research. Our state universities serve students and draw faculty members from all over the country and world. They must provide a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere for all.
The intensely negative attention generated by HB 2 has hurt the state’s reputation and, collaterally, UNC’s image. A loss of federal funding would add a crippling financial blow.
The university doesn’t deserve it. It is better than the picture crudely drawn by short-sighted politicians. Spellings made it plain: UNC leaders won’t let HB 2 make life harder for anyone on UNC campuses.
She and the UNC board are not aligned with Gov. Pat McCrory and the legislature on HB 2. The Justice Department should recognize that and drop the university as a defendant in its otherwise justified lawsuit.
