Staffer no longer employed at university: campus official

An activism group that ran an undercover video operation at North Carolina State University caught on camera a staffer admitting officials still run diversity, equity and inclusion programming despite a ban on the ideology.

UNC system leaders in 2024 ended all DEI programming, but an edited, three-minute video released Feb. 5 by the conservative activism group Accuracy in Media shows a DEI staffer at NCSU saying employees have found ways to hide their DEI efforts.

For example, they’ve changed certain key words they use, or they’ve worked with student groups to put on DEI programming rather than official campus offices, said Jae Edwards, the assistant director of the LGBTQ Pride Center at the university, in the undated video.

“We’re still able to do the things that we want to do, have these events and programs. We have to be a little more careful,” he said, adding they’re “finding ways around.”

“There’s certain words we can’t use anymore,” he said, adding “equity” as an example.

Edwards is no longer employed at the university, a campus spokesperson told The College Fix on Wednesday.

“We were made aware of the video on Thursday, Feb. 5. The individual seen in the video had no role in policy or compliance decisions and was not authorized to speak on behalf of the university. The staff member no longer works at the university. NC State complies with both the spirit and letter of all applicable federal and state laws and UNC System policies, and any violation is taken very seriously,” said the emailed statement from the university’s media relations division.

A campus official did not provide The College Fix with a way to contact Edwards for comment. A NCSU spokesperson told the Raleigh News & Observer the “date of separation” was Feb. 6, but declined to say whether the separation was because of the undercover video’s contents.

Other AIM campus undercover operations at North Carolina universities resulted in similar outcomes.

In June 2025, a University of North Carolina Charlotte administrator who was secretly recorded admitting to finding ways to advance DEI despite a ban on the ideology was let go. The same month, a University of North Carolina Asheville administrator who was caught in another AIM undercover video investigation admitted she breaks the rules to advance diversity, equity and inclusion. She was also terminated.

A similar sting operation was conducted at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, where officials admitted to embedding DEI despite the systemwide ban, according to a video released in June 2025.

AIM has targeted universities as well, including, most recently, Kentucky.

MORE: U. Kentucky staff say DEI, ‘antiracism’ are still ‘important’ in undercover videos