Group releases undercover conversation on DEI policy with UNCW employees
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — A group releasing secretly recorded conversations that have led to the firings of employees at multiple universities in North Carolina has released a new video featuring two employees at UNCW.
An undercover investigator with Accuracy in Media, a nonprofit conservative watchdog organization, recorded the video on September 19, 2024, but only posted it on their YouTube page now.
The heavily edited two and a half minute video features a conversation with Asher Persin, the coordinator of the Mohin-Scholz LGBTQIA Resource Center, and Ashlee Fleming, the coordinator of Upperman African American Cultural Center.”
The UNC Board of Governors changed its diversity, equity, and inclusion policies in May 2024 and required all UNC system campuses to submit reports on compliance with the policy by September 1, 2024.
In August, UNCW announced that staff that worked in cultural centers like the Mohin-Scholz LGBTQIA Center and the Upperman Center would be provided other employment opportunities.
The video recorded on September 19 features Persin and Fleming echoing the policy.
At one point, Persin notes that her team previously had fifteen members, but it was then cut down to four, though no one was fired; they were just reassigned. At another point, Fleming reiterates that some schools submitted reports claiming positions were eliminated, “but if you look at the other pages, it shows that they kind of just, like, created new-ish position(s).”
UNC-Chapel Hill, UNC Charlotte, and North Carolina State University, for example, reported eliminating positions, while UNCW and East Carolina University chose to retain staff in reassigned areas.
UNCW released a statement on the release of the video saying:
UNCW is aware of a video alleging regulatory noncompliance by university personnel. We take such matters seriously, the employees’ actions are under review, and the leadership team is taking swift action to look into these matters further. We will provide an appropriate and timely response once we have more information.
Some of Accuracy in Media’s previous videos have led to universities and employees severing their ties.
Megan Pugh, the former Dean of Students at the University of North Carolina Asheville, lost her job after a video of her speaking with the group surfaced. A person in a different video, Karen Price, was a Western Carolina University administrator until mid-April.
You can watch the full video recorded at UNCW here.
