The University of North Alabama (UNA) responded to an 1819 News inquiry into a hidden video showing an employee explaining how universities get around the state’s ban on DEI program funding.
“Visually, what you see is that it's gone. But really nothing... Nothing really changed,” Bergner said.
Accuracy in Media showed a video of Alyson Bergner from the UNA’s Mitchell-West Center, stating that programs are not eliminated, only their names and titles are changed.
In the video, Bergner revealed the process she said many governmental agencies have gone through to circumvent the law. She said many times, “DEI” is replaced with “multicultural” and titles of DEI specialists are changed.
UNA confirmed Bergner is no longer with the university.
“The University of North Alabama is committed to complying fully with state and federal law,” a spokesperson stated. “The comments in the video do not reflect UNA’s policies, practices, or administrative guidance. The individual in the video is no longer employed at UNA.”
UNA also closed the Mitchell-West Center for Inclusion. The closure alarmed at least one student employee, who posted on social media that the center "provided mentoring for first-generation students."
At the time, UNA stated that student-facing services were being combined under the ROAR Access Center.
Accuracy in Media released a similar video from an official at the University of West Alabama.
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