Secretly Recorded by Anti-DEI Group, ‘No Longer Employed’

The YouTube video is titled “CAUGHT ON TAPE: UNC Administrator Admits They Ignore DEI Ban.” Heart-pumping music plays. A hidden camera records a Black woman—labeled in the video as Janique Sanders, a University of North Carolina at Charlotte employee—speaking to people out of frame.

“I’m just going to give you the real spiel,” she says. “I’m not about to hide it, because I have a general feeling that you’re fine and that you won’t go back and say, ‘Hey, she taught me about all the stuff.’”

“We’ve renamed, we’ve reorganized, we’ve recalibrated, so to speak,” she says. She adds that “if you’re looking for, like, an outward DEI position—not gonna happen. But if you are interested in doing work that is covert, there are opportunities.”

The woman apparently didn’t know she was speaking to someone doing their own covert work: the conservative group Accuracy in Media, or AIM, conducting a sting. Now Sanders, who was assistant director of the Office of Leadership and Community Engagement, is no longer employed by UNC Charlotte.

Since April 14, AIM—a nonprofit whose donors are mostly private—has released a series of what it says are undercover videos capturing employees at six public universities saying that their institutions are circumventing state DEI bans. (North Carolina doesn’t clearly ban DEI, though the UNC system has taken multiple actions to stamp it out.) Inside Higher Ed was unable to reach any of the employees to confirm that they are the ones in the videos.

So far, AIM has released videos targeting UNC campuses in Charlotte, Asheville and Wilmington, plus Western Carolina University, which is also part of the UNC system. In addition, the organization has released videos allegedly of employees at the Universities of South Florida and West Florida.

Three employees whom AIM allegedly recorded—at Charlotte, Asheville and Western Carolina—are no longer employed. A Wilmington spokesperson told Inside Higher Ed the university is investigating the workers shown in AIM’s video targeting it. A South Florida spokesperson said their university required a director who was allegedly recorded to undergo more training, and West Florida hasn’t responded to requests for comment.

AIM’s crusade is an example of how conservative groups continue to publicly denounce and attempt to eradicate DEI—even in states that have already cracked down. And, if the recordings are legitimate, they’re an indicator that at least some university employees are surreptitiously trying to save diversity efforts from state and federal attacks against what’s been broadly, and disputably, labeled DEI.

“The work that we do—hidden camera investigative journalism—is the most accurate and honest form of journalism possible,” Adam Guillette, AIM’s president, told Inside Higher Ed.

He said AIM will release more videos from North Carolina in the coming weeks, plus “similarly outrageous videos” from about half a dozen other states.

“It’s clear that this deception is widespread,” Guillette said.

‘The Letter and Spirit’

Guillette, appearing in the UNC Charlotte video, urged viewers to email board members to tell them their DEI prohibitions hadn’t changed things. Corey DeAngelis, a conservative education activist and senior adviser to AIM, also repeatedly shared the video on X, where he has more than 200,000 followers.

“Her LinkedIn says she uses She/Her pronouns and she is ‘dedicated to advancing equity,’” DeAngelis wrote of Sanders.

UNC Charlotte didn’t confirm or deny that the employee in the video was Sanders. In a statement to Inside Higher Ed, the university said the “junior employee” who was recorded “had no policymaking authority, no role in compliance matters and was not authorized to speak on these issues. Following an internal review, the individual was separated from the University.”

“UNC Charlotte has worked diligently to implement both the letter and spirit of all applicable laws and policies,” the statement said, adding, “the employee’s comments, suggesting the University is not acting in good faith, are entirely inaccurate.”

Asked for more information, a university spokesperson told Inside Higher Ed in an email that “the staff member’s employment was discontinued by the University following an investigation into whether the employee attempted to represent the University without the authority to do so.” But—if this was a hidden camera recording—Sanders didn’t know to whom she was providing information. The university didn’t provide further comment.

It’s not clear what, if any, “laws and policies” Sanders violated. Unlike legislatures in some other states, North Carolina’s General Assembly hasn’t yet broadly banned DEI positions or programs; two bills await Democratic governor Josh Stein’s signature or veto, so they aren’t yet law. But the UNC System Board of Governors has been pushing its institutions to eliminate DEI, including related positions.

In the AIM video targeting Western Carolina University, a woman labeled as Karen Price, the institutional assessment director, says, “A lot of diversity, equity and inclusion positions had to be thought of differently. We are still absolutely doing all of that work, but one of the functions of how … we do that in the spirit of legislation, in the current political climate, is to not have one person as a chief diversity officer.”

Instead, she talked about having that position “repurposed through other positions so that we can do the work, but stay within the context of the requirements politically.” When it comes to DEI, she said, “every area should have responsibility for that; it shouldn’t just be like an office or a figurehead.”

“If we don’t create titles, and it’s more just the work you do, and it’s part of everything that should be centered on just living your mission. You can’t legislate it away,” she said.

Western Carolina acknowledged that Price was in the video. A university spokesperson wrote in an email simply that “Karen Price left on her own accord.” The university said in a separate statement that she had departed by mid-April, well before AIM posted the video on June 10.

In its own statement, Western Carolina—like UNC Charlotte—said it complies with both the letter and the “spirit” of state and federal laws. It also said it upholds “UNC System policies on equality and institutional neutrality.”

In other similarities with the Charlotte statement, Western Carolina said the recorded employee had no policy or compliance roles and wasn’t allowed to speak on the institution’s behalf.

“Campus leadership is working to ensure that employees understand and follow all relevant policies and laws and is conducting a thorough review of our student support services to ensure there is a consistent understanding,” the statement said.

AIM said it also recorded UNC Asheville’s dean of students, Megan Pugh, saying, “I love breaking rules.” The group’s videos sometimes jump from clip to clip of an employee talking, and it’s unclear in the Asheville one whether the employee labeled as Pugh is discussing DEI.

“Is that why y’all kind of like spread it out and stuff?” someone off camera asks her.

“Yes and no,” she replies. “Part of it is just because we don’t have a dedicated office for it anymore, it’s easier to maintain.”

“Has the school been supportive of y’all keeping that?” the questioner asks. The employee labeled as Pugh nods and says “um-hmm.”

An Asheville spokesperson wrote in an email that “the University does not comment on confidential personnel matters,” but later added that “following a prompt review of the matter, the individual is no longer employed.”

“These remarks do not represent the practices of UNC Asheville,” the spokesperson wrote. “The University remains firmly committed to upholding all UNC System policies as well as federal and state laws, both in principle and in practice.”

The response has been different at the University of South Florida, where AIM says it captured Heather Klišanin, the director of student conduct and ethical development, saying, “If it’s student funded, they can’t stop it.” Klišanin’s university defended her.

“Upon viewing the edited video, it appears that she is referencing Florida law and Florida Board of Governors regulation on DEI that includes an exemption for student-led programs funded by student fees,” a spokesperson said. Still, “to ensure USF continues to comply with state and federal laws, USF has required her to complete additional training.”

Paulette Granberry Russell, president and chief executive officer of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, said “these incidents reveal how far antidiversity activists are willing to go to undermine legitimate efforts that support student success for all.”

“Regardless of the labels used, that work supports the ability of all students to thrive on campuses and is lawful, essential and central to higher education’s mission,” Granberry Russell said.