N.C. State Fires Secretly Recorded LGBTQ Pride Employee

""We're still able to do the things that we want to do, have these events and programs. We have to be a little more careful," Jae Edwards, the N.C. State employee, was recorded saying. "It's been very interesting navigating now that there's certain words we can't use anymore ... 'cause things like 'equity' implies inequities," he said. "As a marginalized group, we're used to these things, and we're used to going around them and finding ways around.""

""The individual seen in the video had no role in policy or compliance decisions and was not authorized to speak on behalf of the university," the spokesperson said. "The staff member no longer works at the university. NC State complies with both the spirit and letter of all applicable federal and state laws and UNC System policies, and any violation is taken very seriously.""

NC State terminated its LGBTQ Pride Center assistant director after a secret recording appeared to show violations of UNC System requirements for institutional neutrality on social and political issues. This firing is the fourth within the UNC System following similar secretly recorded videos produced by Accuracy in Media. Other UNC campuses that dismissed employees after recordings include Charlotte, Asheville, and Western Carolina. The recorded staff member, Jae Edwards, said events and programs continue but staff must be more careful and avoid certain words such as "equity." A university spokesperson said the individual had no role in policy or compliance, was unauthorized to speak for the university, and no longer works there. Accuracy in Media has released similar videos at other universities.

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