UNC Asheville Dean Of Students Fired For Pro-DEI Comments

One of the consequences of the Trump administration’s crackdown on diversity, equity, and inclusivity (DEI) in higher education is how many skilled people it’s putting out of work. The Dean of Students at the University of North Carolina, Asheville (UNCA) was fired after comments she made on a hidden camera implying the school wasn’t following through on its DEI changes.

According to WLOS, UNCA’s former dean of students, Megan Pugh, was caught on hidden camera by an investigator with Accuracy in Media, a conservative watchdog organization. Pugh is heard conversing with the unseen camera person about the school’s DEI efforts. “I’m so glad that you guys are still doing equity work,” the unseen camera person can be heard saying on camera. Pugh responds, “We probably still do anyway, but, you know, gotta keep it quiet…But, I love breaking rules.”

Brian Hart, the spokesperson for UNCA, told WLOS that the school was aware of the video and that “following a prompt review of the matter, the individual is no longer employed by the university.”

UNC’s rollback of its DEI initiatives came well before the Trump administration’s sweeping crackdown. In May 2024, the university’s Board of Governors voted 22-2 to remove the DEI program from all 16 of the school’s campuses. By the following September, the DEI office and all related positions had been shuttered and replaced with a new program called “Equality Within the University of North Carolina.”

Man, that title is way better and totally not a mouthful.

Pugh was not the only employee at UNC targeted by Accuracy in Media. Janique Sanders, the former assistant director of UNC Charlotte’s Office of Leadership and Community Engagement, also had her employment terminated by the school after she was seen nodding in confirmation when asked by an unseen cameraperson if equity efforts were still ongoing at the school. The organization has said that it has more videos it intends to release with employees at UNC’s various campuses.

Civil liberties are being violated, ICE is running roughshod through Los Angeles, but hey, at least the good folks at Accuracy in Media are focusing on the real issue at hand: DEI initiatives at colleges.

While I feel for both Pugh and Sanders, this is a prime example of why, now more than ever, you need to keep your head on a swivel. Future and Metro Boomin succinctly described how we should all be moving with their 2024 anthem “We Don’t Trust You.” Moving forward, unless you have a certified history with someone — really been in the trenches with them, don’t give them any information that can put you out of a job or worse.

This move comes amid the many, many moves the Trump administration and state Republicans have made to crack down on DEI initiatives in higher education. Pugh is not the first, nor probably the last, to lose their job over changing standards when it comes to DEI. Earlier this year, the Vice President for Equity and Inclusion at MIT, Karl Reid, resigned from his position ahead of the school announcing the closure of their equity department.

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