Thread: UNC Chancellor Responds to Tancredo Protest

UNC Chancellor Responds to Tancredo Protest

URL: http://www.unc.edu/chan/chancellors/tho ... speech.php

Free Speech at Carolina

Campus e-mail sent to all students, faculty and staff on Wednesday, April 15, 2009, by Chancellor Thorp

I want to express how disappointed I am in what happened last night when former Congressman Tom Tancredo wasn't able to speak when a protest got out of hand, and our Department of Public Safety had to take action. Congressman Tancredo felt threatened and left without making his remarks.

Mr. Tancredo was scheduled to speak about immigration. We expect protests about controversial subjects at Carolina. That's part of our culture. But we also pride ourselves on being a place where all points of view can be expressed and heard. There's a way to protest that respects free speech and allows people with opposing views to be heard. Here that's often meant that groups protesting a speaker have displayed signs or banners, silently expressing their opinions while the speaker had his or her say. That didn't happen last night.

On behalf of our University community, I called Mr. Tancredo today to apologize for how he was treated. In addition, our Department of Public Safety is investigating this incident. They will pursue criminal charges if any are warranted. Our Division of Student Affairs is also investigating student involvement in the protest. If that investigation determines sufficient evidence, participating students could face Honor
Court proceedings.

Carolina's tradition of free speech is a fundamental part of what has made this place special for more than 200 years. Let's recommit ourselves to that ideal.

Sincerely,

Holden Thorp

So they are going to discipline students...what about staff involvement?

Originally Posted by duece212

So they are going to discipline students...what about staff involvement?

i thought about that too

Yes! This is exactly what we hoped to hear. Yes, we need them to eventually focus in on the staff involved because I could tell at the event that many of the professors helping the protesters were ring leaders.

This is a major break through!

W

Originally Posted by ALIPAC

Yes! This is exactly what we hoped to hear. Yes, we need them to eventually focus in on the staff involved because I could tell at the event that many of the professors helping the protesters were ring leaders.

This is a major break through!

W

on one of the many links, i posted a geography professor contact info anlong with a few lines of the bio. she was chating about columbus and someone else,.

one email address for Alpha Cravey
cravey@unc.edu

her bio here http://www.unc.edu/depts/geog/people/faculty/cravey/

added to homepage

http://www.alipac.us/article4139.html

Yes it is. And they should start their investigation with the Romance Languages Department, specifically Tyler Oakley in their Spanish Department who is a teacher assistant and on the adminstrative staff of the department in charge of "publications".

http://roml.unc.edu/people.html

"UNC graduate student Tyler Oakley, who had organized the protest, said he regretted the broken window but not silencing Tancredo. "He was not able to practice his hate speech," said Oakley. "You have to respect the right of people to assemble and collectively speak.""

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/immigr ... 86087.html

Tyler is the one who broke the window. It could have cut and injured that girl. Tyler needs to be relieved of all paid positions and removed from campus for at least a year.

Sorry, Tyler, but you're not a green horn freshman who doesn't know how to act. You're a grad student, a teacher assistant, an administrator, a leader without common sense, any loyalty to our country or its values, no respect for our educational institutions, and no deserving to be overlooked with a reprimand. You organized this to promote illegal immigration to create a demand for bilingual services to promote your own self-interest and profit from breaking our immigration laws, as I'm sure so did your comrades, the same self interest behind El Pueblo, National Council of La Raza, the entire Open Borders Lobby and all pro-illegal alien advocates.

How dare you think you have the right to "silence" anyone in a country founded on free speech, you dumb little greedy self-serving hick.

Terrific. Enough with the intimidation tactics!

Why do I think that half the illegal supporting kids at this protest would have a much different view if they had a few years in the real world, paying taxes, possibly losing jobs to illegal workers, having to sit with a major health problem at the ER while an illegal gets checked for a cold, etc, etc, etc...

Life is different in the real world for most people, which obviously many of the protesters have never known or even seen firsthand...

Originally Posted by ALIPAC

Yes! This is exactly what we hoped to hear. Yes, we need them to eventually focus in on the staff involved because I could tell at the event that many of the professors helping the protesters were ring leaders.

This is a major break through!

W

I think your're absolutely right. This is bigger than people really think.