ACC To Pull All Championship Events From North Carolina For 2016-17 Academic Year Over HB2

Photo Courtesy: Jeremy Esbrandt D'Vel Photo

Just two days after the NCAA announced that they would be pulling all championship events from the state of North Carolina, the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) has announced that they will be following suit.

The decision to pull all championships events for the 2016-17 academic year is in response to the House Bill 2, also known as HB2, which “requires individuals to use the bathroom corresponding to the gender listed on their birth certificate in government buildings, schools and universities, and initially took away the ability of employees to sue their employers in state court for discrimination or wrongful termination.”

HB2 was passed in a one-day session in late March and signed by Governor Pat McCrory later that same night with the portion about employees being able to sue their employers being stripped.

The following sports were slated to hold championship events in North Carolina (listed in date order):

Women’s Soccer
Football
Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving
Women’s Basketball
Men’s and Women’s Tennis
Women’s Golf
Men’s Golf
Baseball

ACC Commissioner John Swofford commented that,

The ACC Council of Presidents made it clear that the core values of this league are of the utmost importance, and the opposition to any form of discrimination is paramount. Today’s decision is one of principle, and while this decision is the right one, we recognize there will be individuals and communities that are supportive of our values as well as our championship sites that will be negatively affected. Hopefully, there will be opportunities beyond 2016-17 for North Carolina neutral sites to be awarded championships.

Kevin White, Director of Athletics at Duke University, added,

Our position has been clear on this matter, which is that this legislation is discriminatory, troubling and embarrassing. We deplore any efforts to deprive individuals, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, of legal protection and rights. We will always be committed to diversity and inclusion, and applaud any efforts to ensure that those values are protected and enacted at all times, and in all places in the state of North Carolina.

More about the ACC’s decision to pull championship events from North Carolina can be found here.

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Swimterp

7 years ago

I would love to see all NC schools boycott the ACC championships – there would be no Atlantic Coast Conference without them! What a bunch of pc puppets these bureaucrats have become.

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David Rieder - Senior Writer

7 years ago

Reply to Swimterp

Most ACC schools were very much in favor of the NCAA removing events from NC — see the statement from Duke AD Kevin White. UNC & NC State had a joint statement today saying they understand the motive but regret the economic impacts. It’s not ideal, but they know HB2 needs to come off the books. It’s been an embarrassment for North Carolina.

Swimterp

7 years ago

Reply to David Rieder - Senior Writer

The AD from Duke…isn’t Duke the same school where about thirty professors and school leaders signed a petition to throw the lacrosse team under the bus for the alleged attack on that ‘exotic dancer’ a few years ago? The innocent team was vilified by the “leadership” at their own school. A real bunch of politically correct ‘geniuses’ in charge there – and sadly, at too many colleges….

CommonSense

7 years ago

Reply to David Rieder - Senior Writer

What’s so embarrassing is that there are those supposedly educated bureaucrats and administrators who are such cowards that they refuse to stand up to those who deny science. Just because someone wants to live in a genderless or switched gender fantasy, doesn’t mean the rest of the world needs to join them.