A Facebook post by a professor at UNC Wilmington sparked a debate last week among the university Board of Trustees over free speech and how the university should respond.
A conservative website reported last week that Dan Johnson, an associate professor at UNCW’s School of Health and Applied Human Sciences, posted the phrase, “Blow up Republicans,” on his personal Facebook account in May.
After the report by the website, Campus Reform, which says it “exposes liberal bias and abuse on the nation’s college campuses,” a spokeswoman for UNCW told WECT News that the university was aware of the post and had “acted on the information.”
“UNCW was made aware of a now-deleted social media post made by a UNCW faculty member on a personal platform. The university acted on the information in a timely and appropriate manner. The faculty member expressed deep remorse and deleted the post,” the university said in a statement, according to WECT News.
The university and Johnson did not respond to News & Observer requests for comment Sunday afternoon.
In an emailed statement Sunday, Board of Trustees member Woody White told The N&O that UNCW Chancellor Jose Sartarelli had confirmed Johnson made the post on a Friday phone call.
White added he would like to see an explanation of the post by Johnson, and for the university to conduct a survey to determine whether conservative-leaning students feel unwelcome on campus. If they do, he said the university should take steps to address it — including recruiting more conservative faculty.
White also shared emails with The N&O of a trustee discussion Thursday and Friday prompted by reports of the post.
In them, he argued the university “has given lip service that we value free speech for years and we have tried to create an environment where it is protected.”
“The problem at UNCW, and at nearly every other University across the nation, is the double standard,” he said. “Free speech is tolerated – even celebrated – when it condemns conservative thought and speech. When it goes the other way, conservatives are shamed, cancelled and bullied.”
White referred to Mike Adams, a former UNCW professor who died last year from what authorities said was a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and Sartarelli as two examples.
Adams was set to retire early after reaching a settlement agreement with the university to pay him more than $500,000. White said Adams’ statements were “distasteful,” but added he “never suggested blowing up anything.”
In December, a faculty group censured Sartarelli after the university removed Black Lives Matter banners, and Sartarelli said it would be hard for him to publicly support the BLM movement “because I believe all lives matter,” N.C. Policy Watch reported at the time.
But Robert Fensom, student body president at UNCW, said as part of the email discussion among trustees he was concerned about the effect an investigation into Johnson’s post could have.
“My understanding of the status of Mr. Johnson’s communication is that it is constitutionally protected speech,” he said. “If that understanding is correct, then we should also acknowledge the chilling effect caused by investigations, an impact that would be felt both by Mr. Johnson and the entire campus community.”
White said in the email exchange that he did not believe Johnson should be fired for his post, but that he should face other repercussions — like students choosing to avoid his classes, sensitivity training or the university hiring a notable conservative voice.
The situation also drew the attention of some elected officials, with Republican U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn of Western North Carolina condemning the post in a tweet Saturday evening.
*story by The Raleigh News & Observer
