Posted: May 5, 2016
Contact: Doug Anderson, doug.anderson@MinnState.edu, 651-201-1426
STATEMENT:
On April 2, citing opposition to discriminatory legislation passed in North Carolina, Governor Dayton directed that all employees of Minnesota state agencies refrain from nonessential business travel to the state. On May 2, the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities presidents implemented a similar travel ban for our state colleges and universities. On May 4, the U.S. Justice Department notified North Carolina that the legislation in question, House Bill 2, violates the U.S. Civil Rights Act and ordered the state to remedy the violation by not enforcing the law.
In light of the intervention from the U.S. Justice Department, the presidents of Minnesota State Colleges and Universities are confident that the deplorable discrimination embedded in North Carolina’s legislation is being addressed. Therefore, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities have lifted their ban on travel to North Carolina.
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The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities include 30 community and technical colleges and seven state universities serving approximately 400,000 students. It is the fifth-largest higher education system in the United States.