With the federal government and the state of North Carolina suing each other over the controversial law keeping transgender people from using public bathrooms that correspond to their gender identity, the University of North Carolina is unsure of how to proceed.
In a Tuesday afternoon statement, UNC President Margaret Spellings explained that while the school is committed to combatting discrimination, it is also compelled to follow state law.
“Our first responsibility as a University is to serve our students, faculty, and staff and provide a welcoming and safe place for all. The University takes its obligation to comply with federal non-discrimination laws very seriously,” Spellings said. “We also must adhere to laws duly enacted by the State’s General Assembly and Governor, however. HB2 remains the law of the State, and the University has no independent power to change that legal reality.”
“In these circumstances, the University is truly caught in the middle,” she continued.
Spellings, who served as U.S. secretary of education under President George W. Bush, said that the school’s board of governors and legal counsel will meet on Tuesday to discuss next steps.
The school also responded to the Department of Justice in a Monday letter. The DOJ last week sent a letter to UNC, along with a letter to the governor, asserting that the new law violates civil rights, asking for a response by Monday. Following the passage of the new law, Spellings said that UNC would comply with HB2, but the university did not take any actions to enforce the law. Spellings noted this in her Monday letter.
“After the Act’s passage, our chancellors, faculty, staff, and students responded with a flurry of questions and expressed substantial concerns,” she wrote. “Throughout all of this time, the University has recognized that the Act does not address enforcement and therefore has not taken any steps to enforce the statute’s requirements on its campuses.”
“We hope that the Department of Justice appreciates that the University is in a difficult position. The University, created by the State of North Carolina, has an obligation to adhere to laws duly enacted by the State’s General Assembly and Governor. So, too, does the University have an equally clear obligation to follow federal law, including federal prohibitions on discrimination,” Spellings continued in the letter.
