Mike Adams, the UNCW professor who has long sparked controversy, will retire Aug. 1

Updated July 23, 7:30 p.m. The New Hanover Sheriff’s Office say they’re investigating the death of Mike Adams in his home. See this developing story for details.

UNC Wilmington is parting ways with a professor whose history of controversial comments on social media has caused headaches for university administrators.

Mike Adams, 55, will retire from the university effective Aug. 1, UNC announced in a statement Monday afternoon. It said the decision came after a discussion between Adams and UNCW Chancellor Jose Sartarelli.

“Over the past several weeks, many of you have inquired about the status of a UNCW faculty member, Dr. Mike Adams, in light of the public attention generated by comments he made on his personal social media channels,” the university’s statement said. “We can now share the update that after a discussion with Chancellor Sartarelli, Dr. Adams has decided to retire from UNCW, effective August 1, 2020. We will have no further comment on this matter at this time, but we plan to share an update later this week regarding how we hope to move forward as a university community.”

Adams, who teaches sociology and criminology, most recently came under fire for tweets about Gov. Roy Cooper’s stay-at-home orders because of the coronavirus.

Adams did not return phone calls or an email as of Monday afternoon.

A series of controversial tweets

In a May 28 tweet, Adams said universities shouldn’t be closing but that they should shut down “the non-essential majors. Like Women’s Studies.” The following day, Adams tweeted, ““This evening I ate pizza and drank beer with six guys at a six seat table top. I almost felt like a free man who was not living in the slave state of North Carolina. Massa Cooper, let my people go!”

Adams tweeted about individuals protesting the killing of George Floyd, saying that rioters were “thugs looking for an opportunity to break the law with impunity.” Adams also called the actions of the Minneapolis police involved with the killing “completely indefensible” on Twitter.

Four different change.org petitions popped up calling for UNCW to get rid of Adams in early June. One had more than 60,000 signatures as of June 29. Combined, the petitions had nearly 120,000 signatures.

“(Adams) has a long history of espousing racist, misogynistic, homophobic, and abusive rhetoric. There have been previous demands to remove him, however he remains,” one of the petitions states.

The push for Adam’s firing caught the attention of celebrities known for television shows filmed in Wilmington.

Actor Orlando Jones, who lives in Wilmington and starred on the Fox TV series “Sleepy Hollow,” tweeted, “As a resident of Wilmington NC & father. Mike Adams, a professor @UNCWilmington educating young minds is a PROBLEM!”

Pushback from students and alumni

UNCW graduate Shay Webb, 20, co-authored a letter about Adams’ comments that asked for him to be removed from his position. The letter was delivered to Chancellor Sartarelli on Juneteenth. More than 150 student leaders and alumni signed it, Webb said.

The letter said they were “disheartened and disappointed” by Adams’ recent comments calling them “racist, stereotypical, discriminative, and derogatory.”

“Being a black woman and to hear those types of comments and to know that he’s still a professor is kind of disheartening,” Webb said. “You know there will be future students who are Black or who are a minority and will have to go through the same thing.”

Now that Adams is retiring before the fall semester, Webb said she feels relieved.

“Even though it took a lot of push and a lot of work, none of it was in vain,” Webb said. “This is a step in the right direction for Black and minority students.”

Fairley Lloyd, 23, said she joined students and alumni in contacting Sartarelli, UNCW administrators and donors and even the UNC System president about the university’s climate and the concern about Adams.

Lloyd, who graduated from UNCW in the spring, said her message to leaders was: “If you don’t pull this guy out or fix some of the racist issues going on I’m not going to donate here.”

“He was just spraying so much hateful rhetoric toward people,” Lloyd said. “The pushback must’ve worked to some extent.”

Lloyd said she thinks people saying they were going to pull donations pushed UNCW to speak out more than it had before.

A history of campus controversy

Adams has long defended his right to free speech and publicly expressed his conservative views that have sparked controversy, criticism and online petitions calling for his removal, the News & Observer previously reported.

He sued UNCW for discrimination in 2007, saying he was denied a promotion because of his “political and religious views,” the Wilmington Star-News reported. That lawsuit resulted in him getting $50,000 in back pay and hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorney’s fees, according to The News & Observer. He then earned tenure and was given a raise.

In 2016, Adams wrote a column about a 19-year-old student activist titled “A ‘Queer Muslim’ Jihad” for The Daily Wire that ignited a free speech debate on campus, The N&O reported. That student ultimately transferred schools. Some called for Adams’ removal, but he was not reprimanded, according to The N&O.

Two years later, University of Montana faculty members condemned Adams’ visit and guest lecture there, because of his’ “long record of mocking, demeaning and verbally attacking women, people of color, members of the Islamic faith and the LGBTQ community,” The N&O previously reported.

The latest controversy over his tweets erupted amid the protests supporting the “Black Lives Matter.”

Adams didn’t seem to be fazed on Twitter.

“When you write the university asking them to fire me don’t forget to leave a mailing address so I can send you a box of panty liners,” Adams tweeted on June 2.

UNCW chancellor under fire

Sartarelli has also faced criticism in recent weeks following a June 11 meeting with student leaders about Black students’ concerns on campus. They also discussed how the university could show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.

According to a post on the UNCW Black Student Union Facebook and Instagram pages, the students asked whether they could paint #BLM somewhere on campus.

The posts say that Sartarelli declined that request and said, “If you are asking me tomorrow to start painting and decorating the university with Black Lives Matter, that’s going to be very difficult because all lives matter.”

The student leaders said they were “disappointed” with his response and an online petition has been circulating calling for his resignation. It had more than 5,600 signatures as of June 29.

“We DESERVE a Chancellor that understands the concerns of Black students,” the petition states. “We EXPECT a Chancellor to be socially and culturally aware. It is IMPERATIVE that our Chancellor is aware of their impact on Black students. We CALL FOR a Chancellor that actually believes that BLACK LIVES MATTER. WE NEED CHANGE!”

This story was originally published June 29, 2020 at 1:48 PM.