With weeks left before the spring commencement season gets underway, UNC System President Peter Hans offered the University of North Carolina’s Board of Governors a sobering message at last week’s meeting.
“I believe higher education has been and remains an enormous source of strength for our state and nation,” Hans said. “[But] the public confidence in higher education nationally has fallen, reflecting a broad trend of weakening trust in institutions of all kinds.”
Hans said even with that perception, the system owes it to future generations to fortify North Carolina’s critical engines of knowledge, mobility, and culture.
UNC System President Peter Hans addresses the Board of Governors on April 10, 2025. (Screengrab of UNC Board of Governors livestream/PBSNC)“In the long history of American public life, periods of ease and harmony are the exception, not the rule. We need universities built for all seasons ready to thrive and play their part in the grand American experiment,” Hans advised.
But being ‘built for all seasons’ did not perhaps envision an administration in Washington determined to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education while threatening to strip federal funding from all universities that refused to comply with its mandates.
In March, Johns Hopkins University announced plans to slash 2,000 jobs as the Trump administration made deep cuts to international aid programs. Columbia University saw $400 million in grants and contracts cancelled due to the university’s alleged “inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.” Cornell University faces the loss of $1 billion in federal funding. And Raleigh’s News & Observer reports 13 research projects at UNC-Chapel Hill were terminated by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Without mentioning the institutions now in the crosshairs, Hans told the Board of Governors that to maintain public trust, it was crucial to stay focused on the core educational mission.
Hans said by following the university system’s strategic plan with a focus on affordability and on-time graduation, the system is seeing improvements in the areas that matter to the state.
“We’ve also taken steps to minimize distractions in this fraught era, again to the focus. Our early adoption of institutional neutrality has allowed campus leaders to focus on their educational roles instead of constantly chasing the news cycle.”
Hans made no mention of diversity, equity, and inclusion, but he did not need to. It’s been almost a year since the UNC Board of Governors voted to repeal the system’s DEI policy.
Legislation that cleared the state Senate last week would further expand restrictions for DEI on North Carolina’s college campuses to include the banning of instruction in “divisive concepts.”
“I’m proud to say the UNC system was ahead of the curve on these critical questions that so many other universities across the country are right now struggling with,” Hans told his colleagues.
Moving forward, Hans said the university system will need to avoid overreaching its mission, lower administrative spending, and find ways to operate more efficiently.
Standing up to ‘strong forces’
Shayna Hill, chair of the UNC System Staff Assembly, used her time before Hans and the governors last Thursday to remind them that there should be space to discuss thorny, complex subjects, even when it can be a messy process.
“Sometimes we get passionate and heated. And sometimes what we advocate for doesn’t make it into the work that we do. But we always come to the table with a desire to make our institutions better,” she said.
But Hill said that ‘strong forces’ right now collectively give the staff pause.
“Some of us are worried about how we will sustain our research. Some of us are worried if students will still have the same options when it comes to financial aid. Some of us are worried about our funding and staffing levels. Some of us are worried about the rising cost of absolutely everything.”
Shayna Hill, chair of the UNC System Staff Assembly (Screengrab of UNC Board of Governors livestream/PBSNC)Hill said she was personally distressed by news reports that at least two-thirds of the staff of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, or NIOSH, are expected to be laid off.
“I am familiar with the research done to study cancer rates in firefighters as some of this work is done in my own department. This is noble and important research, and I couldn’t help but feeling like we were abandoning these brave folks who worked so hard to keep us safe.”
It felt like a gut punch. She cried briefly at her desk.
Hill reminded the board that UNC staff and faculty fervently believe in their work, even when strong forces seek to disrupt their mission.
“We believe that we can help improve our world through the projects, research and education that takes place in our departments and our institutions. So, when we feel defeated or depressed, we find ways to hold each other up, to elevate each other and to continue to serve the state of North Carolina with love, guts and passion. It is what we are supposed to do.”
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