Ban ‘compelled speech’ for college applicants and state job candidates, NC bills say
North Carolina legislators are considering a bill that would prohibit the state’s public universities and community colleges from asking applicants for employment or academic admission about their views on matters of “contemporary political debate or social action.”
The language in House Bill 607, “Prohibit Compelled Speech/Higher Ed,” closely mirrors that of a policy passed by the UNC System Board of Governors in February. If passed, the bill would cement in law the prohibition of “compelled speech” for the state’s public universities and extend it to the state’s 58 community colleges by requiring the State Board of Community Colleges to “adopt a policy in accordance” with the bill’s provisions.
“This bill does not change anything that exists in policy now with the University of North Carolina System,” said Rep. Steve Tyson, a New Bern Republican, at Thursday’s committee meeting. “It does extend that same policy to the community colleges.”
Nathan Hardin, executive director of communications for the state community college system, declined to comment on the bill when contacted by The News & Observer Wednesday, but Tyson said at Thursday’s committee meeting that government relations personnel with the system had not shared with him “any opposition at this time.”
Tyson, who is one of HB 607’s primary sponsors, said the purpose of including UNC System schools in the bill was to ensure the system’s policy will remain in place if the system has “a different Board of Governors at a later time, which we all know they will.”
Bill does not specify prohibited topics
HB 607 would prohibit colleges and universities from asking or requiring applicants to endorse, opine or commit to sharing their personal views, beliefs or opinions — as well as any action they have taken in support of or in opposition to those beliefs — on matters of “contemporary political debate or social action” as a condition of employment, admission or promotion.
Like the UNC System policy, the bill does not outline specific topics that may be considered matters of “contemporary political debate or social action,” but it could apply to hiring and application questions about topics related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), which some universities have previously included in applications for admission or employment.
At N.C. State University, for example, beginning with the 2021 application cycle, the school’s application for undergraduate admission included a question asking applicants how they would “contribute to a more diverse and inclusive” environment at the university.
That question drew criticism from Carolina Partnership for Reform, a group that describes itself as “advocates for a freedom and prosperity agenda” and that had singled out N.C. State as the only school in the UNC system requiring a DEI statement. The question will not be required of applicants in the future, The N&O previously reported.
Tyson and another primary bill sponsor, Rep. Destin Hall, a Republican from Granite Falls, said during Thursday’s committee meeting that the bill would allow politically conservative applicants to feel more comfortable in the hiring and admissions processes.
“The truth is, the problem that the UNC board was after, the problem this board is after, is conservatives who are applying to jobs, professors and the folks who are applying to these schools, feeling like they’re getting the shorter end of the stick, because they’re having to make basically compelled speech about something,” Hall said.
Rep. Tim Longest, a Raleigh Democrat, said in the meeting he worries the bill’s language “may sweep too broadly” and limit schools’ abilities to question applicants about their support or opposition of issues such as white supremacy.
“I would like the universities to have the power to investigate to determine whether that’s the case,” Longest said.
Hall said he was “not aware of any university that has on their application whether someone’s a white supremacist.”
Bill would not ban prohibited topics from campuses
Another bill being considered this legislative session, Senate Bill 364, includes similar language to HB 607, but applies it to the hiring and workplaces of state employees — and, in its current version, includes specific concepts that “shall not be promoted” in state government workplaces.
The 13 listed and banned concepts in SB 364 include that:
“One race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex”
“Any individual, solely by virtue of his or her race or sex, should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress”
“All Americans are not created equal and are not endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”
HB 607 would not prevent applicants from voluntarily talking about their beliefs, nor prevent hiring or admissions managers from asking about the content of their resume or professional work.
The bill also does not prohibit the banned topics from being discussed on campus or in classrooms.
“The students at the university can talk about anything they want to,” Tyson said. “They can come up with crazy ideas just like I did when I was a young man, and that’s fine. That’s part of the education process. But, you know, it’s really meant for more toward the employer and the applicant students.”
Employees of colleges and universities who violate HB 607’s provisions would be subject to “disciplinary procedures as determined by” the schools’ system-level governing boards.
The bill includes appeals processes for schools to be granted the ability to ask applicants about the banned topics on a case-by-case basis. The appeals would require the approval of either the president of the UNC System or the state community college system.
This story was originally published April 27, 2023 at 12:49 PM with the headline "Ban ‘compelled speech’ for college applicants and state job candidates, NC bills say."
