In today’s charged climate, attention is focused as never before on incidents and allegations of racism – individual and systemic, intentional and inadvertent. We want to remind our community that UNC Greensboro, as an institution, believes that racism has no place in either our University or our society. When we receive an allegation of an incident of bias or racism, we will take action.
This is especially true of what we see in social media. We know that there will be cases where racist language, images, and behavior are displayed and shared across social media. When our students, faculty, or staff are involved, we will act. We will investigate, we will ask questions, and we will determine the right response and the best path forward.
Social media moves very fast, and is bound by very few restrictions. We are committed to taking seriously any issue brought to our attention, but we will not adjudicate these cases online. As a public institution, UNCG is bound by privacy laws that prevent us from sharing information about students, employees, or specific investigations. While respecting First Amendment freedoms, we will ensure that the language of hate, the images of bigotry, and any acts of discrimination are addressed wherever we find them in our community.
We recognize the pain that negative, cruel, or racist social media postings can cause, and the conflict they can incite. We also know that even some acts that seem innocuous or lack any malice in their intent can have significant negative impacts. We will be as responsive as possible. Yet despite the capacity of social media to escalate issues quickly, we owe it to our community to be thorough, to be fair, and to act based on the facts. We believe that is what you – our faculty and staff, parents and students, friends and supporters – would expect of us.
Sometimes the best course of action will be disciplinary, especially where there is a violation of the student code of conduct or the University’s policies relating to discrimination and other unacceptable employee behavior. Other times, it will be through education, awareness, and helping people in our community learn and grow through experience and understanding the impact of what they do and how they act – whether “in real life” or online.
We have several channels available to anyone who wishes to share a concern or ask a question about these matters.
Issues related to students: Please email Deanofstudents@uncg.edu, call us at 336-334-5514, or click here to report an incident online.
Issues related to faculty: Please email Provost@uncg.edu.
Issues related to staff: Please contact the Employee Assistance Program or visit https://hrs.uncg.edu/contact_us/. For confidential reporting and support options, please contact the Student Counseling Center at 336-334-5874 or the Campus Violence Response Center at cvrc@uncg.edu or 336-334-9839.
