The Trump administration has reached a settlement with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill that will end 18 active federal investigations, along with a separate Justice Department compliance review into alleged antisemitism and race discrimination on campus.
The voluntary agreement does not require UNC to pay a fine, and the university neither admits wrongdoing nor accepts liability. The deal remains in effect through the end of 2028 and allows UNC to continue receiving federal funding.
As part of the settlement, UNC will create an internal “Merit & Civil Rights Administrator” role and add a “Title VI Coordinator” to its compliance office. The positions will handle complaints involving antisemitism and discrimination based on race.
UNC said Elizabeth Hall, the university’s associate vice chancellor for university compliance, will hold both positions while continuing her current responsibilities. Hall will serve as the university’s liaison with the Justice Department and oversee its required reports.
The Trump administration reached a settlement with UNC that will close 18 active Education Department investigations and a separate Justice Department compliance review. (Eros Hoagland/Getty Images)
“This announcement reinforces our commitment to the fair and equal treatment of everyone at Carolina,” UNC Chancellor Lee H. Roberts said in a statement. “For at least a decade, through different presidential administrations, U.S. universities have faced heightened public scrutiny across a range of issues. We’re proud to resolve those issues at Carolina in a way that protects our mission and affirms the civil rights of everyone in our community.”
The settlement also directs UNC to provide required antisemitism training for students, faculty members and staff.
The university must additionally ban face coverings used to hide a person’s identity, with certain exceptions. Under the agreement, student organizations “shall be subject to discipline for antisemitic discriminatory conduct.”
President Donald Trump and administration officials have characterized pro-Palestinian demonstrations as antisemitic. Protesters, including some Jewish organizations, dispute that claim, arguing that criticism of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza is not inherently antisemitic and that support for Palestinian rights does not amount to backing extremism.
The agreement also requires UNC to adopt what the Justice Department described as a “color-blind admissions system.” The university may not use race or adjust its admissions procedures to influence the racial makeup of its student body. It may, however, consider how an applicant personally overcame hardship and evaluate elements of family background, including poverty, as long as those factors are applied consistently.
The agreement requires UNC to provide mandatory antisemitism training to students, faculty and staff. (Jonathan Drake/Reuters)
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UNC must also enforce race-neutral rules for student benefits, scholarships, financial aid and university programs, according to the settlement.
The administration has maintained that policies giving preference to particular racial groups violate federal anti-discrimination requirements.
Under the deal, UNC will submit any complaints involving antisemitism or race discrimination to the Justice Department and the Education Department every quarter.
The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights will close its 18 open investigations into UNC. Separately, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division will end an 18-month compliance review that began in April 2025.
“Title VI requires that all students — regardless of their ancestry or race — receive equal treatment under the law at federally funded colleges and universities,” Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon said in a statement.
UNC will prohibit face masks used to conceal an individual’s identity as part of the settlement. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
“Higher ed policies and practices that tolerate antisemitism or favor certain racial groups over others, frustrate our color-blind justice system. The Civil Rights Division commends UNC for its cooperation in meeting its obligations under federal law without the need for litigation; we hope other institutions will take note and do the same,” she added.
In 2023, the Supreme Court struck down race-based admissions programs at UNC and Harvard, effectively ending affirmative action in college admissions.
The administration has launched investigations into universities nationwide and threatened to withdraw federal funding over issues including pro-Palestinian campus protests, diversity programs and transgender policies.
The federal government has also settled with some other schools, including Columbia University, which last year agreed to pay more than $200 million to resolve federal probes, and Brown University, which agreed to provide $50 million over 10 years to Rhode Island workforce-development organizations as part of its settlement.
Harvard, which has been a primary target of the administration’s threats, has not yet made a deal.