North Carolina State University (NCSU) students and faculty are calling on the university to reinstate former LGBTQ Pride Center assistant director Jae Edwards, who was fired earlier this month after a right-wing organization targeted him in a so-called “undercover investigation.”
In the past week, more than 700 people have signed a petition and over a dozen student and faculty groups have signed onto open letters demanding action from the school’s chancellor. Edwards was secretly recorded by Accuracy in Media (AIM) talking about how the center is navigating the repeal of the college’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policy.
The policy reversal was part of a larger repeal of DEI programs across the UNC System. In 2024, the Board of Governors implemented a new rule to maintain “institutional neutrality,” in response to executive orders from President Donald Trump, which ordered the termination of DEI initiatives for federal agencies and contractors. Trump has openly threatened to pull federal funding from universities that don’t comply with his wishes.
Edwards was fired within 24 hours of AIM’s baseless allegation that the video showed Edwards was flouting NCSU’s new rules. The roughly 3 minute and 30 second video was recorded during the 2024-25 school year, according to reporting from the Carolina Public Press, and appears heavily edited.
In it, an unidentified person recording with a hidden camera speaks with Edwards, though that person’s side of the conversation is largely edited out. Edwards talks about how NCSU eliminated the Office of Inclusion and Diversity, but the center can still continue its events and programs, adding, “we have to be a little more careful.” Among the statements he makes is, “I think it’s so important, more than ever, to still uplift and celebrate our students.”
Walter Robinson, chair of the NC State Faculty Senate, told the INDY that while he and others have no choice but to comply with NC State’s new policies, “I didn’t hear or see anything in the video that indicated he [Edwards] was not in compliance. In this case, it just seems beyond the pale to me. It’s unfair.”
Robinson is also a member of the NC State chapter of the American Association of University Professors, which organized the petition and is running the open letter campaign. He noted that staff like Edwards play a crucial role in student success, saying, “having these centers gives students a place of belonging on campus. And that’s known to lead to academic success.”
David Ambaras, the chapter president, told the INDY he hopes NCSU will “do the right thing” and reinstate Edwards. But he and others are prepared to “build up to stronger demands if needed.”
“We see it as connected to all the issues of academic freedom,” said Ambaras. “If our students don’t feel welcome, and if they feel that the resources to which they’d like to turn are under attack, then their own right to learn is under attack.”
Edwards’ firing is not an isolated incident. Similar AIM videos have targeted staff at UNC Charlotte, UNC Asheville, UNC Wilmington, Western Carolina University, andNC Agricultural and Technical State University—resulting in at least two more terminations. Ambaras pointed out that AIM uses the same strategy each time, doing what he called “hit jobs” aimed at public-facing staff who have less protection than tenured faculty.
What is equally disturbing to him, however, “is that universities are not asking to see the full recordings. They’re simply, in a knee-jerk reaction, dismissing these employees.”
Robinson echoed the sentiment, saying NCSU’s response was “hair trigger,” and an example of cancel culture in action. Universities shouldn’t be ceding personnel decisions to outside groups, whatever their political affiliation, he said.
“I hope they [university administrators] think more carefully before reacting to this external pressure. Because if you start responding to everybody on social media, you lose control of your own institution.”
Asked about the petition, the recording, and the decision to terminate Edwards’ employment, NCSU spokesperson Mick Kulikowski told the INDY he is unaware if Chancellor Kevin Howell has seen the petition and that he is “unable to comment on personnel matters.”
Edwards has asked for help with his “unexpected job loss” in the form of donations to a GoFundMe campaign.
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