Committee member Joe Ferrell asked Provost Jim Dean what UNC’s policy will be about enforcement of the law on campus. The bill requires people to use gender-specific public restrooms that correspond to their biological sex.
“We’ve been trying to understand that specifically from a legal perspective,” Dean said. “We’re still not sure if and how it applies to us at UNC-Chapel Hill.”
Ferrell said N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper has already said he will not defend the state in the ACLU’s lawsuit against House Bill 2.
Dean said the University is trying to better understand the law’s impact on UNC and the broader UNC system.
“This is creating some problems for us,” Dean said. “We are, beyond anything else, concerned about the individual members of our community.”
Dean said because of House Bill 2, conferences and speakers that were supposed to come to UNC have expressed concern and are no longer coming. He said potential students and faculty have also expressed concern about coming to UNC.
“I would assume the University is not particularly eager to go out and vigorously enforce (House Bill 2),” Ferrell said.
Faculty Chairperson Bruce Cairns said the faculty needs to take ownership of the bill’s impact on UNC’s campus.