A June 1 social media post from the University of North Carolina's athletics department to X showed the state of North Carolina with a rainbow argyle pattern running through it. The caption read “The Tar Heels are for everyone” with a ram emoji.
That post was later deleted, along with another similar post from the UNC Greensboro, after the university said the posts violated the school's equality policy.
“The UNC Board of Governors Equality Policy commits the university to institutional neutrality,” Andy Wallace, the UNC System media relations director, said. “Campus efforts to ensure compliance will remain a continuous process.”
According to The Daily Tar Heel, the policy states that no employing subdivision or employment position within the system should speak on behalf of the University regarding “any prescribed ‘view of social policy’ or ‘political controversies of the day.’”
The policy was adopted in May of 2024. One of the only acknowledgments of Pride Month on social media after this policy was adopted by the university includes a post on X from June 24, 2024, which read “Happy Pride Month, Tar Heels!” That post includes multiple graphics with LGBTQ+ books, which are found in UNC libraries year-round.
Netra Parikh and Christian McFadyen, the 2026-27 co-presidents of the Sexuality and Gender Alliance at UNC said they were surprised that the athletics posted anything related to Pride Month, adding that the university uses it neutrality policy to avoid supporting minority groups on campus.
“We’ve known something was in the pipeline when it comes to queer acceptance, queer inclusion, queer advocacy at UNC,” Parikh said. “I think this is the first big thing in the last two or three years that we’ve seen, and it’s like, ‘the shoe has dropped,’ so there’s a question of what do we do with that.”
