Feds investigate 'hate speech' incident at UNC-Chapel Hill
The Associated Press
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) - Federal authorities are investigating UNC-Chapel Hill after a February incident in which an English instructor singled out a conservative student for "hate speech."
The probe will analyze whether the teacher's actions amounted to harassment and whether the school reacted appropriately.
A letter from the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill announced the decision last week. Education department spokesman Rodger Murphey says several people filed complaints about the incident with his department.
School faculty members passed a resolution Friday committing themselves to principles of "intellectual independence, nondiscrimination on the basis of, among others, race, sex and sexual orientation, free speech and expression."
It also said political affiliation should play no part in hiring faculty. Conservative students at the school recently have lamented that Democrats dominate academia.
The incident resulted from an exchange last month in an English class during which a student said he opposed homosexuality. Instructor Elyse Crystall sent an e-mail message Feb. 6 to students in the class criticizing the student.
"what we heard thursday at the end of class constitutes 'hate speech' and is completely unacceptable. it has created a hostile environment," she wrote.
She referred to the student by name, calling him "a white, heterosexual, christian male" who "can feel entitled to make violent, heterosexist comments and not feel marked or threatened or vulnerable."
Crystall apologized to the class Monday in another e-mail, saying her earlier message "crossed a line and inhibited free discussion."
University officials said they were monitoring the class to ensure students' free speech.
The Office for Civil Rights asked UNC-CH to provide documents about the incident and its handling, including a roster of students, course materials, messages posted to the class discussion forum and a list of any similar matters or complaints about campus discrimination based on race or sex.
http://newsobserver.com/nc24hour/ncn...-3072345c.html
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