Senate committee substitute to the 3rd edition makes the following changes. 

Amends GS 126-5 to no longer include under new GS 126-14.7 (equality and merit in State government and workplaces; no DEI): (1) nonexempt employees of both UNC and the Community Colleges System Office and (2) community college employees.

Amends proposed new GS 143-162.8 (no public funds for DEI) so that it no longer applies to covered schools. Makes conforming changes. Amends the definition of State agency under the statute so that it no longer includes community colleges or the UNC system. Similarly, no longer includes monies received or held by a UNC constituent institution under the definition of State funds. Makes conforming changes by no longer specifying that the statute should not be construed to apply to: (1) academic course instruction; (2) scholarly research or a creative work by an institution of higher education's students, faculty, or other research personnel or the dissemination of that research or work; (3) an activity of a student organization registered with or recognized by an institution of higher education; (4) a policy, practice, procedure, program, or activity to enhance student academic achievement or postgraduate outcomes that is designed and implemented without regard to race, sex, color, or ethnicity; and (5) bona fide qualifications based on sex which are reasonably necessary to the normal operation of public higher education, including: a. sports teams organized by sex, b. single-sex bathrooms and locker rooms, c. requiring a maintenance employee assigned to a single-sex locker room to be a member of that respective sex, d. fraternities and sororities restricted to members of one sex, and e. having single-sex housing options for students.