TransparUNCy Press: June 12, 2024
Read: "UNC’s Police Response to Student Protests" by Aoife Nurse
“University leaders like Lee Roberts would have you believe that they are merely doing their jobs—maintaining order and enforcing the rules with objectivity and “institutional neutrality.” Do not be convinced. The history of past university leadership’s actions shows that violent repression was not the only course of action Interim Chancellor Roberts could have taken in response to student activists. This administration did not need to recruit police, arrest students, and then cynically smear them as violent anti-semites. But that is what they chose to do.”
This week from TransparUNCy Press, Aoife Nurse breaks down UNC’s history of student protest and administration’s response in "UNC’s Police Response to Student Protests." Notably, Nurse explains how Interim Chancellor Lee Roberts chose to lead his own brigade of police to brutalize student protesters rather than engage with students and their clear demands.
While UNC-CH Chancellor Christopher Fordham respectfully and productively interacted with anti-apartheid student protesters in the 1980s, Interim Chancellor Roberts had distinctly different methods in April. Chancellor Fordham stated that “These (protesting students) are very fine people, and we want them to be concerned about such issues.” Roberts has again pioneered his own strategies by continually lying about peaceful student protestors, painting them as violent criminals and blaming them for the destruction brought by his own police force.
While both chancellors boasted of their commitment to free speech on campus, one used their power to shut down the campus community hub for social justice, increase student surveillance, and suspend students who actually use their voices. We’ll let you take a guess as to which.
The violence against students clearly sanctioned and witnessed by Roberts directly contradicts his previous declarations of “neutrality.” The smiles he shared with police and counter-protesters as students were actively brutalized confirm every suspicion held regarding his character, motivations, and commitment to the Carolina community.
Click the link provided above or the button below to read the article.
Also check out last week’s TransparUNCy Press article by Emma Culley, “DEI, Neutrality, and White Supremacy.”
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The TransparUNCy Team