North Carolina
With affirmative action out, North Carolina’s flagship school bars use of race, sex in admissions
Hannah Schoenbaum/AP
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down their school’s race-conscious admissions plan as violating the Constitution, the board of North Carolina’s flagship public university has voted to strictly bar the use of “race, sex, color or ethnicity” in admissions and hiring decisions.
In a pair of decisions announced June 29, court majorities struck down affirmative action in college admissions, ruling against UNC-Chapel Hill and Harvard University, the nation’s oldest public and private colleges, respectively.
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“I’m confident that we’re taking all the necessary steps to fully comply” with the decisions, UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz told the audience at the board’s meetings this week in what was the first in-person board gathering since the rulings.
Still, while schools nationwide are now looking for new ways to achieve diverse student bodies, the resolution tells UNC-Chapel Hill administrators that certain methods are now off-limits.
The resolution, initially approved by the board’s audit committee Wednesday, promises not to grant “preferential treatment” to any individual or group on the basis of race. The school also must not establish “through essays or other means” any regime premised upon “race-based preferences” in hiring and admissions.
Board member Ralph Meekins urged, without success, for members to postpone the vote, saying the resolution “goes well beyond the Supreme Court ruling.”
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Earlier Thursday, trustee John Preyer criticized how UNC-Chapel Hill handled the litigation brought several years ago by a conservative group that accused the school’s undergraduate admissions policies of discriminating against white and Asian students. A trial judge in 2021 upheld the school’s actions, leading to appeals.
“This is a moment of humility,” Preyer said. “For nine years, we’ve spent in the neighborhood of $35 million to lose a high-profile case. Why did we do that? Was that the right thing to do?”
The trustees discussed this week other ways to comply with last month’s UNC-Chapel Hill ruling, which found the school’s consideration of race in admissions violated the Constitution’s equal protection clause.
“What we’re trying to do is be proactive with this and make sure that we’re in compliance and that we’re providing equal protection,” trustee Marty Kotis said. One school administrator mentioned Wednesday having an internal diversity, equity and inclusion audit but didn’t provide details.
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Guskiewicz announced three weeks ago that the school would offer free tuition to students whose families make less than $80,000 annually. The program, which could help expand diversity efforts, is being paid for with private funds.
North Carolina
Chimney Rock State Park in North Carolina reopens nine months after the destruction of Hurricane Helene | Latest Weather Clips | FOX Weather
Chimney Rock State Park in North Carolina reopens nine months after the destruction of Hurricane Helene
Deputy Director of North Carolina State Parks Kathy Capps joins FOX Weather to share the recovery process of Chimney Rock and the grand re-opening after months of repairs.
North Carolina
Ex-Laurel Ridge Treatment Center CEO faces 6 child sex charges in North Carolina, records indicate
DURHAM COUNTY, N.C. – The former CEO of a San Antonio mental health center was arrested Monday in North Carolina on child sex charges. Some of the alleged crimes date back more than two decades.
According to court documents obtained by KSAT on Tuesday, Jacob Cuellar, 46, is facing six counts based in Durham County, North Carolina:
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two charges of statutory sexual offense with a child by an adult
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two charges of indecent liberties with a child
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statutory rape of a child by an adult
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statutory sexual offense with a child 15 years old or younger
The Durham County indictment, which accounts for the six charges, states that the victims were two minors at the time of Cuellar’s alleged assaults, ranging between 2001 and 2008.
A Durham County grand jury formally indicted Cuellar on the charges on May 19, records show.
A judge set Cuellar’s bond at $250,000. Publicly available records with the Durham County Sheriff’s Office (NC) state Cuellar has since bonded out of jail and spent less than one day in custody.
According to a report in the Raleigh News & Observer, based in Raleigh, North Carolina, Cuellar was a sophomore at Duke University in nearby Durham in September 1998 when North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation agents raided his dorm room and seized his laptop and other personal items “as part of an inquiry into whether he used his personal computer to disseminate child pornography.”
It is unclear whether Cuellar faced any charges as a result of the 1998 seizure, according to the News & Observer’s reporting.
In June 2024, KSAT 12 News learned that Cuellar applied for a license as a medical doctor in North Carolina in 2008 but was denied. Information on the North Carolina Medical Board’s website indicated that the reason for the denial was due to a 1999 criminal conviction for preparing an obscene photo.
Although that criminal charge does not appear on his online record in North Carolina, it did appear in other internet databases.
Cuellar was the former chief executive officer at the Laurel Ridge Treatment Center, which is located on North Loop 1604 East near Redland Road.
Last year, KSAT learned Cuellar voluntarily resigned from the mental health center three weeks before he was arrested and accused of sexually assaulting a young girl over multiple years.
KSAT also learned last June that a girl, who was 11 years old at the time, told San Antonio police officers in 2022 that Cuellar had been sexually assaulting her on an ongoing basis.
According to Bexar County court records, Cuellar is facing one charge for continuous sexual abuse of a child under age 14, which is considered a first-degree felony.
Those records also indicate Cuellar is “awaiting trial” on the Bexar County charge.
After he bonded out from jail in North Carolina, the News & Observer reported Cuellar is now “allowed to return to Texas for his pending trial in San Antonio.”
A date for Cuellar’s Bexar County trial has yet to be determined.
More coverage of this story on KSAT:
Copyright 2025 by KSAT – All rights reserved.
As immigration-related demonstrations intensify across the country, organizers are planning their own protest in North Carolina’s capital city.
A protest and march are planned for Tuesday evening to take a stand against deportations.
Members with Democracy Out Loud plan to hold a silent protest in front of the Legislative Building as state lawmakers prepare to vote on Senate Bill 153.
Also known as the North Carolina Border Protection Act, it aims to crack down on undocumented immigrants in North Carolina.
“This is an anti-immigration bill so we are going to be out here with signs and trying to let the public known about this bill and why we oppose it,” shared Maddie Segal, a member of Democracy Out Loud.
Another member, Mark Swallow, argued such deportations would having a crippling effect on the state’s economy.
“They pick out food, they pack up our meats, they clean our homes, they build our homes, it’s a significant number,” Swallow said.
Senate Bill 153, a Republican-backed bill, aims to strengthen coordination with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), charge sanctuary cities with crimes, and prevent undocumented immigrants from collecting state benefits.
Similar protests have taken place across the U.S., including in Los Angeles, where violent clashes erupted for four days straight.
In Raleigh, demonstrators stood in solidarity, but not all agree with their message.
Ira Mehlman with the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) supports enforcing SB 153.
“We’ve seen countless examples over the past few years of horrific crimes that could have been avoided if we kept them out in the first place or if local law enforcement cooperated with federal law enforcement to get the person out of the country,” he said.
FAIR argues illegal immigration is a fiscal burden in North Carolina.
“This is money that can be used for other price tags in North Carolina,” Mehlman said, attributing costs to public education, health care, and policing.
As debate over the legislation heats up, attention now turns to lawmakers, whose decision could shape the future of immigration enforcement in North Carolina.
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