Are 345 diversity and social justice courses at UNCC too much?

CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) - Students and faculty from University of North Carolina-Charlotte (UNCC) are responding to a recent Breitbart News article about the diversity courses the university offers.

The news outlet calls the number staggering. There are 345 courses including Queer Theory, Street Gangs, and Global Hip Hop.

UNCC senior Letaeja Fitzgerald says she took Global Hip Hop.

"I could learn and it was fun," Fitzgerald said. "And I was getting way more out of that class than I did from a lot of my classes where I had just a regular lecture."

Fitzgerald says the course was also meaningful.

"It was basically a course that helped us understand the importance of using hip-hop in higher education to educate African American students or students of color," she said.

Breitbart readers quickly took a jab at the university for offering such courses. They believe they are unnecessary and will not help students get a job once they graduate from college. The Dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences Nancy Gutierrez disagrees and is using this spotlight to prove a point.

"This provided us an opportunity to say we are doing our job," Gutierrez said. "We have to prepare students to go and live and thrive in the workplace. If we do not provide our students with the opportunity to learn about the world, about the different cultures, then we are not doing our job - Yay UNC Charlotte and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences."

Some UNCC students disagree with the dean.

"When I read it, I was kind of shocked. I didn't realize we had so many social justice classes," Jackson Masterton said.

Masterton is a Business Major and thinks 345 courses in Diversity is too much.

"I thought that we as a school should focus more on the engineering stufff," Masterton said. "I don't feel like we should be focusing and putting our time and effort in cultural diversity."

UNCC professors come up with the courses and there is no mention to shorten the list.

"I think it's awesome," student Lexis Lamb said. "The more you know, the better well-versed you are. I think it's a good thing."

The university says the courses are relevant and deals with subjects the world is dealing with.

"At the end of the day people are going to always talk," Fitzgerald said. "But I believe our university does a great job of preparing our students to make a difference."

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