A Defense of Dr. Randy Woodson
On June first, NC State’s Nubian Message published a letter authored by its editor, titled “Please Try Again, Chancellor Woodson.” The letter argues that Chancellor Randy Woodson’s pledge to “educate ourselves and those who pass through our doors to overcome ignorance, unite against intolerance, model inclusivity and advance the dignity and power of diversity” is disingenuous and platitudinous. The Message accuses the chancellor of hosting “well known white supremacists” at NC State, failing to correct “the wrongdoings of your current administration and administrations of the past” and, most brazenly, of “endangering the lives of the students you claim to care about.”
Likewise, NCSU’s Technician issued a June sixth article written by its editorial board, announcing the paper’s view that Dr. Woodson’s aforementioned statement is the latest in a pattern of “complacent responses to racism.” They claim that his reprisals to racist behavior and history on campus “are lacking in substance” and are “shallow responses to blatant racism.”
These egregious allegations are the latest in a shameless campaign to slander Dr. Woodson as a racist, even as he does everything within his power to foster a hospitable campus for students of all races. The fact is that Dr. Woodson has dedicated his tenure as chancellor to the value of cultural diversity. This commitment was demonstrated most recently by his pledge to rename Daniels Hall, formerly named after white supremacist Josephus Daniels.
Moreover, the chancellor’s mandate that our campus community complete diversity training to ensure a more inclusive environment and his initiative to review and revise NC State’s code of conduct, campus rules and statement of values are further examples of the administration’s dedication to excise racism at State. These efforts stand in stark contrast to the Nubian Message’s claim that Woodson hasn’t addressed “the wrongdoings of your current administration” and the Technician’s allegations that the chancellor’s responses to racism “are lacking in substance.”
Of course, Woodson’s efforts haven’t appeased the radical left-wing staff of the Technician and Nubian Message. Their editors remain devoted to their ultimate end of crushing dissenting speech and crippling law enforcement through the application of public pressure on our university’s chancellor. These malignant objectives are exposed through nothing better than the Technician’s stated opposition to the right to orate “highly offensive and disgusting” language, as guaranteed by the first amendment of the United States Constitution. They proclaim that “severe disciplinary action needs to be taken in hate speech cases” in direct opposition to the free speech rights the country and university were founded upon. Similarly, the anti-police and anti-free-speech objectives are exemplified by the Message’s demands that Dr. Woodson “scale back” relations with Raleigh PD and their claim that Chancellor Woodson facilitates white supremacist rhetoric on campus.
The Message’s white supremacist accusation is an unmistakable reference to TPUSA’s “Culture War” with Charlie Kirk and Lara Trump, who have been declared white supremacists and a failure to black students in pages of the Nubian Message. These charges are defamatory to Kirk, Trump and Woodson. Anyone who has listened to Mr. Kirk or Mrs. Trump is aware that both resoundingly oppose white supremacy. Likewise, attendees of the event are aware that Mr. Kirk spent the entire night dismantling white identitarianism, which, unsurprisingly, went unreported by the Message and the Technician, instead, deeming it objective journalism to insist that questions of racial animus “remained substantially unanswered by Kirk.”
When joining the two articles, it becomes apparent that the Technician’s advocacy of nebulous and far-reaching hate speech regulations is a blatant attempt to quell dissent in tandem with the Nubian Message’s efforts to conflate ordinary conservatism with so-called “hate speech.” Correspondingly, the papers’ attacks on Chancellor Woodson’s integrity indicate that they intend to achieve these goals by tightening the Overton window until any behavior, including the chancellor’s overtly anti-racist initiatives, can be construed as hateful.
However, there’s an even more abusive character attack in the Nubian Message’s article: the accusation that Woodson is “endangering the lives of the students you claim to care about” by refusing to cave to their demands that law enforcement abandon the student body. These charges are antithetical to reality, as there is plenty of evidence to refute the notion that police use deadly force excessively against minorities. For example, this 2017 Harvard study, which found that police are 27.4 percent less likely to use lethal force on people of color when controlling for type of crime.
Furthermore, University PD’s assessment reports provide even more evidence to refute the claim that UPD uses force at outsized rates, presenting an average of only 7.33 uses of force each year and one use of officers’ service weapons each year. Ultimately though, our views on the police remain irrelevant. The insinuation by the Message’s editor that Woodson does not care about minority students’ lives is character assassination against a man who has worked tirelessly to provide for minority communities. Likewise, the Technician’s allegations that Woodson’s refusal to crush offensive speech is indicative of complacency with white supremacy is baseless, dishonest and should be universally condemned. There is no room for unethical ad hominem attacks in student newspapers.
Chancellor Woodson, don’t fall victim to the predations of radicals who seek to defame your character and censor dissidents. They will never halt their drive against your good name, nor your respect for the first amendment. Your student body recognizes, commends and thanks you for your efforts to defend our rights to free speech, diversity of viewpoint and to create an inclusive atmosphere for all.