Years-old video prompted UNC professor’s suspension, chancellor tells faculty
Welcome to Dean’s List, a higher education newsletter from The News & Observer and me, Korie Dean.
I’m starting this week’s edition with some bittersweet news. Today is my last day with The N&O.
I started here four years ago, about five months after graduating from UNC-Chapel Hill. For about 18 months, I was on the paper’s service journalism team — helping readers understand important issues in our community through user-friendly content, and having lots of fun along the way writing about TV, giant fruits and vegetables and Cook Out milkshakes.
Then, two-and-a-half years ago, I took over our higher education coverage. I’m biased, but I’ve come to believe this is the best and most interesting beat in North Carolina, and I’m so grateful to have gotten to cover it for the state’s paper of record.
I covered a landmark Supreme Court case, a fatal shooting at my alma mater and its fallout, and a major leadership change at UNC — all in my first seven months on the job. I spent long days at the General Assembly, and waded into the intersections of higher ed, politics and sports — and sometimes, all three at once.
I broke the news that the UNC System would repeal diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, covered protests that gained national attention and took deep dives into academic program cuts and new course requirements.
I’m leaving for a new job opportunity. But I certainly will miss The N&O and the fantastic journalists I’ve gotten to work with and learn from. Working here was a dream come true for me as a lifelong North Carolinian.
And the news doesn’t stop, so you can expect to continue receiving a version of this newsletter in your inboxes while The N&O searches for my replacement. I hope you’ll continue to read and support it.
Plus, there’s plenty to recap from last week. Also included in this week’s newsletter:
- New updates on the UNC professor who was put on administrative leave, then reinstated over disproven allegations he promoted political violence;
- My report on UNC’s $1 million reputation consultant;
- A major lawsuit filed by NC State University against a chemical giant;
- and more.
Faculty press chancellor, others on professor’s suspension
There was a lot on the agenda for last Friday’s UNC Faculty Council meeting. But the issue with the most interest was clear.
Last week, university officials placed professor Dwayne Dixon on administrative leave, citing “recent reports and expressions of concern regarding alleged advocacy of politically motivated violence.” On Friday, he was cleared to return to his faculty duties immediately, with a university assessment finding “no basis” he posed a threat to the campus or community.
Apparently at the center of the episode was Dixon’s prior affiliation with Redneck Revolt, an anti-racist and anti-fascist organization that has ties to “John Brown Gun Clubs.” That organization was connected to flyers posted at Georgetown University that read “Hey, fascist! Catch!” — a phrase printed on a bullet recovered by police after the fatal shooting of Turning Point founder and conservative activist Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University last month.
It’s unclear whether Dixon had ever been a member of a John Brown Gun Club. He left Redneck Revolt in 2018, and the organization disbanded in 2019.
Before he left the group, though, Dixon appeared in a 2018 documentary about Redneck Revolt. It now appears that his appearance there — seven years ago — was at least part of the impetus for administrators placing him on leave.
That’s per remarks from UNC Chancellor Lee Roberts at Friday’s meeting. (It’s unclear whether the documentary was the exact video Roberts was referencing, though it matches his description and clips of the trailer made the rounds on social media around Dixon’s suspension.)
Roberts said he saw, over the weekend before Dixon was placed on leave, “a video of a professor who was calling for the need, was talking about the need, for confrontation, while loading a semiautomatic weapon and then firing that weapon.”
“That wasn’t a got-you video. That wasn’t a hidden camera video. That was something the professor himself had posted,” Roberts said. “I hadn’t seen it before.”
But others at the university apparently had seen the video before. And Dixon has been a well-known activist in the Triangle for years, also drawing attention in 2017 for bringing a semiautomatic rifle and extra ammunition to downtown Durham amid rumors and concerns that the Ku Klux Klan planned to demonstrate there. (The KKK never showed, and Dixon faced charges that were later dropped.)
Li-ling Hsiao, a member of the Faculty Council and a fellow professor of Dixon’s in the department of Asian and Middle Eastern studies, pointed out to Roberts that the video was nearly eight years old. And, according to Hsiao, Dixon had been interviewed by university police about it at the time, and was not placed on leave.
Why, then, did UNC take action against him after several years and without consulting people who work with Dixon daily, Hsiao asked?
“I think that’s what we were trying to do, was to go through a threat assessment process,” Roberts replied.
Sheera Talpaz, a Faculty Council member and professor in English and comparative literature, asked a similar question: “It’s from 2018, and you happen to be made to be aware of it now. Why did that warrant an immediate suspension?”
Roberts replied: “It’s a fair question. Again, I became aware of the video on Sunday. We thought it was worth doing an assessment. We believed that the assessment would give us more information, and that’s what it did. We didn’t take disciplinary action against him. We were looking into it, and I understand the context that you’re outlining. On the other hand, a professor was loading and firing a semiautomatic weapon on a video that he posted.”
Talpaz responded by noting many faculty understood Dixon’s suspension to be a form of discipline against him. Talpaz also asked whether faculty need to be suspended or placed on leave in order for supposed threats to be investigated.
Roberts replied: “I think that’s a legitimate question. I understand why you’re asking that. ... My answer is that, if there had been a conclusion from the threat assessment that there was a threat, we would have wished that we had gotten them out of the classroom as quickly as possible.”
A recording of the full Faculty Council meeting is available on the group’s website.
And you can read my latest story on this issue here: UNC reinstates suspended professor, finding ‘no basis’ he pushed political violence
ICYMI: Catch up on these headlines
In other news about UNC, I published a story last week that revealed the university has spent nearly $1 million on public-relations support since last year.
Records obtained by N&O reporters Shelby Swanson, Jadyn Watson-Fisher and me showed UNC has been working with the Brunswick Group, a global PR firm, since July 2024.
Last fall, records showed, the group conducted interviews with 21 university stakeholders. Part of the firm’s findings from those interviews: “Carolina has lost its ‘Way,’” referencing the legendary basketball coach Dean Smith’s philosophy that has become a larger ideal for the university as a whole.
There’s much more to dive into in the full story: UNC has paid nearly $1M for PR help since 2024, in part to find its ‘Way’ again
NC State University last week announced a major new development in the ongoing Poe Hall saga: It is suing Monsanto, the chemical giant, over the presence of toxic chemicals found in the building nearly two years ago.
Monsanto, which was acquired by Bayer in 2018, was the sole manufacturer of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, in the United States from roughly 1930 to 1977. Poe Hall, which housed the College of Education and the psychology department, was constructed in 1971.
The university is seeking damages to cover the cost of remediating the building, and for Monsanto to assume responsibility for any liabilities incurred from the personal injury claims of those who worked in the building, though the lawsuit states NC State does not allege or concede anyone “has sustained personal injury as a result of exposure at Poe Hall.”
UNC System President Peter Hans said the lawsuit “is just the right thing to do,” while Monsanto said the university’s claims “lack merit.”
Read the full story here: NC State sues Monsanto, manufacturer of PCBs, over Poe Hall contamination
Wake Forest president to step down
Wake Forest University President Susan Wente announced last week she will step down on June 30. Following a sabbatical, she will return to the faculty and be “focused on mentoring and advancing science in service to society,” she said in a message to campus.
“In higher education, timing is critical, and I believe now is the right moment to begin this transition,” Wente said. “This is because Wake Forest is in a strong, stable, and even enviable position among the nation’s universities.”
Wente, a cell biologist, has served as Wake Forest’s president since 2021. She previously served as provost and interim chancellor of Vanderbilt University.
Among Wente’s accomplishments at Wake Forest:
- Improving student access and affordability, including by establishing a scholarship effort that has raised more than $150 million to date and introducing the Gateway to Wake Forest initiative which will cover tuition for qualifying students beginning next fall;
- Developing a new campus in Charlotte;
- Hiring six new deans and fundraising for new endowed chair positions;
- Serving as vice chair and chair of the ACC’s board of directors;
- and initiating projects to revitalize the university’s main campus in Winston-Salem.
“It has been the honor of my career to serve as Wake Forest’s president,” Wente said. “What makes this place extraordinary is the people. I am indebted to the students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents, and friends who believe in the power of education to shape lives of purpose. I know that Wake Forest is well-positioned for the future.”
Higher ed news I’m reading
- The White House is considering offering a “competitive advantage” to universities seeking research grants if they pledge to abide by the Trump administration’s policies and values on admissions, hiring and other issues, The Washington Post reports.
Thanks for reading
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