Carolina Press Highlights Firing After UNC AIM Investigation
January 15, 2026
A former UNC-Charlotte employee, Janique Sanders, is suing the university for racial discrimination and two administrators for a First Amendment rights violation. The university fired Sanders in May 2025 after undercover individuals recorded videos that showed Sanders alluding to continued diversity practices at the university despite the widespread dismantling of DEI in the UNC System.
Sanders was employed by the university’s Office of Identity, Equity and Engagement until it was shut down in 2024, as well as two other offices with a similar purpose, after the UNC System repealed its diversity policies across its 17 institutions. At the time of her termination, she was an assistant director in the Office of Leadership and Community Engagement.
An announcement of the closures from UNC-Charlotte in August 2024 stated full-time staff from the affected offices were “provided employment opportunities elsewhere on campus.” The lawsuit claims Sanders’ former office was “reorganized” and some diversity work “remained intact,” though it’s unclear in what capacity.
More than a year after the UNC System repealed the policy, videos began to circulate of staff at a number of schools in the system, each stating that the universities where they worked were continuing to incorporate diversity initiatives despite the policy change.
Undercover reporters working for a group called Accuracy in Media filmed Sanders and others discussing these details unknowingly. The covert tactic is sometimes described by critics as “gotcha journalism,” an interviewing method intended to elicit statements that could be damaging to the interviewee’s image, though AIM president Adam Guillette rejected the term in an interview with CPP in June.
In the video, Sanders tells the individuals, who appear to be inquiring about getting involved with DEI initiatives happening on the UNC-Charlotte campus, “If you’re looking for, like, a(n) outward DEI position — not going to happen. But if you are interested in doing work that is covert, there are opportunities.”
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