Podcasts about Silent Sam

Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCuRS4Ujb-PV1Msz_ZwLt5A/join A film student's obsession with a long-lost silent movie uncovers a sinister presence tied to the mysterious figure known only as Silent Sam. Mr.Freaky Discord server ► https://discord.com/invite/5SyDc2DFDJ © 2025 Freaky Attractions. All rights reserved.

The horrors of abortion continue by the permissive silence of the church. God's people must speak out--and show up-- to protect the innocent from destruction. Pastor Sam Jones shares how to do spiritual battle at your local Planned Parenthood--with worship.

How effectively do your leaders and employees deal with a co-worker's grief, stress, and burnout? Do they respond as Fixit Frank, Silent Sam, Cheer-up Cheryl, or Buckup Bobby? With all the uncertainty, angst,  stress, and burnout permeating workplaces, maybe it's time for an Empathy SWAT Team and an empathy toolkit too. Workplace Empathy Advocate Liesel Mertes and the founder of Handle with Care Consulting joins us with her team of empathy avatars to unlock the benefits of practicing empathy at work and how to get better at it. We are all first responders in our own way. Oftentimes, managers and co-workers are the first ones to see when something is wrong but aren't the best equipped to deal with it. In a Never-Normal world with perpetual uncertainty, increasing angst, and an epidemic level of burnout, empathy matters. What needs to change? Who is responsible? Are some people just better suited to be empathic leaders? Can empathy be learned? What can leaders and HR do? What if all of us could be workplace first responders who have a basic toolkit that helps to stabilize and connect with people in a way that matters?

You've probably heard the horror stories about college dorms: late nights, loud parties, and lots of questionable bathroom antics. These campus living areas depend on the vital labor of housekeepers like Tracy Harter, who works at UNC Chapel Hill. She's here to set the record straight about the students living in the dorms. Sure, they sometimes give her a run for her money. But for Tracy, it's all about the care and connection: the students have her back, and she has theirs. Tracy has long participated in her local union and was an outspoken advocate for her fellow housekeepers at the start of the pandemic, when cleaning workers were given limited personal protective equipment to work in increasingly unsafe conditions. In 2019, she also took part in the “Silent Sam” protests on UNC campus, which culminated in the toppling of a Confederate statue. Tracy shares these stories and describes the day-to-day work of being a campus housekeeper—including some of the more, shall we say, memorable days on the job. To wrap things up, co-hosts Nan and Lisa reminisce about their own time in the dorms and offer some Extra Credit reading and viewing about cleaning workers. About our guest Tracy Harter is a housekeeper at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a member of UE Local 150, the North Carolina Public Service Workers Union. Extra Credit Doméstica: Immigrant Workers Cleaning and Caring in the Shadow of Affluence by Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo (University of California Press, 2007) Justice for Janitors: A Story of Hope, Courage, and Triumph short documentary film by SEIU (2014) Follow Ai-jen Poo, director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, on Twitter (@aijenpoo) Produced and edited by Richelle Wilson Theme music by Josh Wilson Show cover art by Margaux Parker Episode cover art by Lena Helfinger A special thanks to Wisconsin Humanities for their support. Want to get in touch? Email us at collegelandpod@gmail.com or send us a voice memo on Anchor.fm.

FULL TRANSCRIPT OF EPISODEProvided by Otter.aiEoin Trainor  0:00  The views and opinions expressed in Eye on the Triangle do not represent WKNC or the student media.Good evening Raleigh and welcome to this week's Eye on the Triangle an NC State student run and student produced news show on WKNC 88.1. I'm Eoin Trainor. On tonight's episode Elizabeth Esser is talking about NC State's return to in person classes this fall with Dr. Amy Orders the director of emergency management and mission continuity at the university. Afterwards, Laura Mooney and I report on the controversy surrounding Chadwick Seagraves, an NC State employee who was accused of being a member of the proud boys, stay tuned.Elizabeth Esser  0:45  This is Elizabeth Esser reporting for Eye on the Triangle. Joining us today is Dr. Amy Orders director of emergency management and mission continuity here at NC State to discuss the university's plann to return to in person classes this fall. Thank you so much for joining us today, Dr. orders.Dr. Amy Orders  1:01  Thank you for having me, I'm grateful to have the opportunity to tell about great new changes on the horizon. Elizabeth Esser  1:07  To start us off, can you just tell listeners a bit about yourself and your position at NC State?Dr. Amy Orders  1:12  I have hit my 20th year at NC State. But my my position has evolved over the years within environmental health and public safety. And within COVID, it really took on a new a new face and a new paradigm of operation centric work was very important to move us forward in all the different phases. So our job has been to be responsive to the needs of the campus over the past year. Elizabeth Esser  1:35  How did the university come to the decision to return to in person class.Dr. Amy Orders  1:41   It was kind of an evolving conversation. We've been watching the public health information and changes in the CDC or recommendations from other public health entities for several months. And the whole idea is we knew we would return to normal and I have to use normal with air quotes at some point we were hopeful it would be sooner than not. So trending the virus itself that community transmission, the prevalence of vaccine and its distribution models, people, you know, following community standards, both outside of campus and in campus, all of that helped make a better informed decision on what was safe and appropriate to the idea of a normal fall really is a cascade effect over a couple of months. It requires us to go back and challenge what our safety practices are now what our community standards need to be what we need to do for changes in classrooms or physical spaces to invite people back to their offices or research environments or other areas. But all of that has to be mindful of the virus itself, we have to watch what happens in the public health sector. If we experience another wave of the virus and infections, then we need to be moderating in our decision making and pace appropriately. We're really hopeful though that normal fall can really mean back in the classrooms 100% or in a large capacity. Looking at our research operations, we've fully activated and then restoring our other campus special events, clinics, all of the above. So we are anticipating a normal start keeping that caveat in mind that if something changes, we pauseElizabeth Esser  3:14  So when we started with in person classes last fall seats were spread out. Teachers had plexiglass screens in front of them while they lectured. As of right now, what can we expect in person classes to look like in comparison to in person classes prior to COVID.Dr. Amy Orders  3:30  Some of the recommendations that are coming out slowly but steadily from the Centers of Disease Control really do tell us what the expectations are how to minimize exposure, maximize the experience. So one of the greatest examples that we're watching is public schools, you're seeing the decrease in the spacing. So we were at six feet physical distancing. And now the paradigm shifting to about three feet. When we in our classroom setting some of our classrooms may not be appropriate for different reasons. It could be ventilation, it could be the spacing, whatever that is, we'll continue to assess that even as recommendations come in and say hey, you can be closer together. In the fall though it was such an extreme situation, we were looking at every possible safety mechanism that layers into effect is the Swiss cheese model. If you can give Plexiglas and maximize distance and decrease the occupancy, then we minimize transmission in those facilities, what happens outside and you bring the virus in there, that's still a problem. Well, now that the virus load or the number of positive cases is going down, we can start removing layer by layer not all layers to be able to increase that experience as close to what we used to or we're accustomed to, in like the 2019 timeframe. So university will still look at these things very, very, very detailed and specifically such as plexiglass, like you mentioned, if a faculty member has some sort of experiential learning or in face obligation with a larger crowd. Maybe that Plexiglas is still appropriate because when you Talk, you actually spit, the aerosol is a concern. So we need to think about these things creatively and not assume that we take everything away because that may not be the situation.Elizabeth Esser  5:10  Residence halls will also return to full occupancy. Will any extra precautions be put into place there?Dr. Amy Orders  5:16  there are some standing precautions that we will maintain for sure. So, in our residence halls, single occupancy moving that back to regular double occupancy is is the goal. And still having a process for an exception as we have cases that are necessary to address but the heightened cleaning, having people understand what cleaning in their own personal space means. Understanding what it what the virus itself will exist in the background, how to protect yourself and be more effective and those measures will continue. The other part of it in the residence halls and across campus is messaging. We won't just take down everything that says you know, cover your face, wear your mask, it has to be a blend, a reminder, if it's cold and flu season, we tell people cover your cough and wash your hands. Let's do cold flu plus COVID because it will still exist. So still cover your cough wash your hands. It applies at home and the residence hall settings, it's going to be the same type of approach Elizabeth Esser  6:14  Does the university as of right now have plans for if there are major spikes in cases?Dr. Amy Orders  6:20  We keep that as a on the front burner conversation every day, our plans won't go away. So we will decrease the number of quarantine and isolation spaces in the fall. mindful though that at any point in time, if we have to increase those, again, we will so we have provisions in place kind of in a tiered process. If we have to go back and analyze what the best spacing policies are. We're hopeful that if everyone understands what the community expectations are, then we won't see those spikes we will go and have our social gatherings we may still have limitations on those gatherings. That's kind of a crystal ball that we don't have right now. But if we're able to look at those in a very methodical manner and make some plan decisions, then if we do have a spike we're ready to address.Elizabeth Esser  7:03  Finally, is there anything else that you would like for listeners to know about NC State's return to normal this fall?Dr. Amy Orders  7:09  I think there are two things that I'm going to add one is as some level of surveillance testing is going to have to continue. You know, it's going to be that COVID becomes endemic to society. At some point, it still exists, it's in the fabric. So it's just like seasonal flu it comes and goes. Our testing strategy may not be as pervasive as it is now. But some level of testing is still appropriate to make sure you're not missing some level of information that can better inform our decisions. The other thing is the vaccination process. It's starting to open up stores so widely, the opportunity to get the vaccine is making itself very much available to everybody. So in the next week or so you'll see the next group open, where we can actually invite the close to the 15,000 people who have pre registered for vaccination on campus into the vaccine clinic. Having that vaccination makes a world of difference because increasing the immunity across the board, we reach the closer to a herd immunity status that helps us get back to being able to gather and be in other places in a more social circumstance. I think between the two, because we're really cautious about how we're setting up campus physically, how we're telling people in our training, what to expect, setting the right expectations. It helps us also engage the individual and say some of this is on you. Get your vaccine or if not at your discretion. GO participate in testing, we would like to have that data help us meet in the middle. That will get us back to normal in the fall.Elizabeth Esser  8:37  Well, thank you so much again for joining us today. Dr. Orders. Awesome.Dr. Amy Orders  8:41   Thanks so much.Eoin Trainor  8:43  NC State University became embroiled in controversy this winter when some students began to question its commitment to inclusion and diversity. This came on January 11, when NC State announced that they would not take disciplinary action against Chadwick Seagraves, a university employee accused of being a member of the far right extremist group the Proud Boys. The allegations emerged last November when the anonymous comrades collective an anonymous left wing organization released a blog post and Twitter thread detailing Seagraves connections the group, the thread claims that he posted students and activists personal information online. It also includes photos from a 2017 anti Islam rally in Chapel Hill. These claim to show Seagraves pictured with Augustus Solinvictus, a prominent white supremacist who headlined the unite the right rally in Charlottesville that same year. Seagraves vehemently denies the allegations in a statement he said to paint me as a racist and fascist is heinous slander. NC State made its decision to not take action against Seagraves following a two month investigation into his conduct. In a statement, the University said the rigorous review did not substantiate any significant allegations. Following this announcement, student body president Melanie flowers signed an executive order designating January 19 as a day to protest the decision. I recently sat down with President flowers to discuss this, our interview details student government's perspective on the issue and offers a reflection on one of the semesters most controversial moments. For Eye on the Triangle I'm Eoin Trainor.First question, what was your and student government's initial reaction to NC State's decision to not take any action against Seagraves?Melanie Flowers  10:26  It was a few things. There was obviously a lot of disappointment at the results of the investigation. It's, it's frustrating, because I know, when all the information came out, at least for me, I was really nervous that there wouldn't be any actions that the university would be able to legally take with the investigation. And so that was really concerning for me seeing as the groups that the OIT employees affiliated with, I think it or I know it continues to spread and just perpetuate a culture of white supremacy on our campus. And that's, that's really nerve wracking, and unsettling, and, and more. And so it sucks, it more than sucks to, to know the university couldn't do anything about it. And it puts student government and myself and others in a place to think about what steps can we take to ensure that the people that the university employees are champions of diversity and inclusion and equity, like the university is trying to be?Eoin Trainor  11:38  In your view, was NC State transparent during the actual investigation? Did they ask for your input at all?Melanie Flowers  11:45  So I forwarded on information after it started to surface on social media. I wasn't asked for input. But legally, I don't have any role to play in the investigation. So that wasn't something that I would have really needed to be a part of anyways. Um, I think transparency is kind of a difficult topic, because I have I have the perspective of somebody who has the knowledge to know what legally can be put out for these kinds of cases and what can't be and like this is it's really an HR case. And I think students are definitely just very apprehensive in trusting the process and the University and I am too, because you just, you you see the results. And you see that Seagraves just continues to be employed here. And you wonder, like, what happened? And, and I get that, and I think that's why the transparency pieces, although legally, it was correct, I think I understand the frustration of what felt like crumbs of information the university was able to share.Eoin Trainor  13:04  Um, you signed an executive order creating a time and place for protests against the results of the investigation. What led you and student government to come up with this decision? Did you consider any alternatives?Melanie Flowers  13:18  This was one of the things that came out of my understanding of the fact that the university couldn't do anything legally. Student Government has a, a privilege and a power to use our voice in the way that our university as a public institution can't. And I didn't want to let that go to waste in student government. It's our job to represent students and voice their opinions and concerns in a way that's heard. And so this was our way of making sure that students knew that we were fighting for them. And we're feeling all of these things alongside them as well. And so this was this idea was really the idea. We didn't really consider other options it. It came about before the first day of classes, and it came about in about a week less thanEoin Trainor  14:13  can you tell us about how the protests went. What was your overall impression of what the students who were there were saying and what concerns they were expressing?Jaylan Harrington  14:23  So it was interesting, because we had to essentially publish the executive order in the protest, and the notification of the protests before students were back on campus. And even though students are back, we're not all here. So we kind of had a completely virtual launch of the protest. And there was a lot of online engagement across social media. And so we definitely felt like we had this student support. In person. We had a couple of dozen students attend and then we also had about 10 people for the virtual option which was awesome to see. attendees were thankful the ones that I interacted with, were thankful that we were saying something. And just making them feel like they weren't alone. I heard a lot of that because I think sometimes or not sometimes for a lot of students, you get this notification and you're alone in your residence hall. And you  you just wonder, like, Is anybody else feeling disappointed? Or is anybody else feeling scared? Or is anybody else angry or mad at this? And I think, actually speaking out provided that affirmation for a lot of students,Eoin Trainor  15:32  And your perception of how the general student body feels, is that any different or do you think it's fairly similar to the opinions expressed the protest?Jaylan Harrington  15:40  I'd like to think it's fairly fairly similar. I know there are definitely individuals who who question if it's student government's place to to protest at all, and there are definitely varying opinions about how we approached the situation. But from what I've heard, what I've seen, the the outcry about Seagraves, when you know, these accusations initially surface back in November, and how that continued over winter break, there's definitely a a larger message and group just just wanting to make sure that NC State is the place that we say we are. And so I think that's definitely the overwhelming the overwhelming opinion, it's just, we've got to do better and right now Seagraves continuing at the university isn't the university doing better,Eoin Trainor  16:25  Right, student government is planning on sending Seagraves one letter a day until he resigns. What does this been like so far? Has he responded? at all?Jaylan Harrington  16:37  I haven't gotten any responses to the office and we're sending them to the on campus office, I don't have his home address. My my guess is that they could be getting forwarded to his home address or they're there until or when he gets to the office. So yeah, that's, that's up in the air. I'm hoping to get a response.Eoin Trainor  17:00  And then even though NC State basically can't take any action, now the investigation is over. Do you think they should do anything else beyond the statements they've released to address the concern that they're not completely committed to equity and diversity?Melanie Flowers  17:16  Yeah, and I think some steps that we are taking, slowly, but surely, as I sit on several search committees, and what's starting to get added to job descriptions at the university is being a champion for the diverse populations that we serve. And it might not be those words exactly. But there are definitely statements and required qualities that are being implemented into all of these positions. It's not just the chief diversity officer who you have to have that competency. It's, it's a random engineer, it's a random instructor that needs to have that understanding. And so I think that's one of the ways that we're moving in the right direction to just make sure that objectively, when we ask anybody who's entering the university, what they're going to bring, we hope that inclusion and equity and a champion for everyone is a part of the qualities they're bringing to the university.Eoin Trainor  18:08  Given the controversy of the situation, has Student Government received any negative responses since the feedback? Have you received any threatening statements to either you or any of the protesters?Melanie Flowers  18:21  Yes. So as I said, I know there are opinions that disagreed with our, our strategy on addressing the situation. There are some comments on our Instagram page asking about you know, is this cancel culture is it SG's place to protest etc. And I think To that end, the University has done, I mean, as good as a job as it can to offer opportunities to educate yourself on diverse communities at NC State and really just in the world, and in North Carolina, and especially over the summer, those resources were shared very abundantly and pass that OIED offers DEI related trainings for for a lot of different communities. And I think there's just too much opportunity to learn, especially this year for this to be considered cancel culture. We, we know that white supremacy is a, a toxin to our community. And that's, that's not physics. So I feel as though there have been clear standards for what the university expects from its community members and those aren't met from what what I feel to be true about his actions and affiliations. Eoin Trainor  19:42  And then just to clarify like no, like any, just like complaints about like, cancel culture and stuff, not like threatening statements or anything, correct.Jaylan Harrington  19:52  Yeah, we, we were very fortunate to not receive death threats or anything of that nature. We did our best to protect the identities of protesters, it helps that everybody wears masks now. So that wasn't a huge concern. And then while we did take down names and contact information that was remained in the hands of a student government official, and its since then been discarded of and that was just for COVID-19 tracing in the event that that was a concern. We could contact people, but it was as anonymous as possible so we could ensure that peace would wouldn't be a concern.Eoin Trainor  20:32  And then, since the protest, is there anything else under your purview that he's been planning to do or have been able to do to address this situation?Jaylan Harrington  20:42  This is a really good question. I spoke to it earlier about the university kind of starting to standardize asking questions related to DEI in all interviews and how that's becoming a more standard piece of job descriptions. And so that's something that I will continue to push for in search committees that I'm a part of, and then also just trying to see what we can do to standardize that practice moving forward.Eoin Trainor  21:10  I think that's it but thank you so much for your time. Melanie Flowers  21:13  Awesome. I'm excited to listen for it thank you for covering thisEoin Trainor  21:22  OIED is NC State's Office for institutional equity and diversity. DEI stands for their diversity, equity and inclusion training programs. For more information you can go to diversity.ncsu.edu.Laura Mooney  21:37  President flowers interview sheds light on how NC State as an institution reacted to the allegations towards Seagraves. However, student perspectives vary greatly on this issue. For further information on student reactions and how other outlets covered the story. We reached out to members of Technician, NC State's longest standing student newspaper. For the latter half of this segment, we are joined by technician editor in chief Rachel Davis, managing editor Alicia Thomas and multimedia managing editor Jaylan Harrington. I'm Laura Mooney, and you're listening to Eye on the Triangle on WKNC 88.1.So let's just go ahead and do some introductions just for you know, when I introduce this segment, the audience members will want to know who's talking representing technician. So if you could share your names and positions at technician, that would be phenomenal. Rachel Davis  22:35  Hi, my name is Rachael Davis. I'm the editor in chief of technician.Alicia Thomas  22:41  I'm Alicia Thomas. I'm the managing editor at Technician.Jaylan Harrington  22:49  And I am Jaylan Harrington. I'm the multimedia managing editor of Technician.Laura Mooney  22:55  And for those who are unfamiliar with student media at NC State, I'm just going to do kind of a general overview question of why is student journalism important from the perspective of student journalists?Jaylan Harrington  23:11  I'll take that one. I think student journalism's important because it's really important to inform the student body of the current events that are happening on campus. We're really the only outlet that cares about the minute details that are happening on campus. So keeping the student body informed is really, really important to meRachel Davis  23:35  It also informs students about issues or maybe policies, the ways of the university that they may not have known about. Laura Mooney  23:45  The next thing I was going to ask was regarding informing the student body, what motivated you to cover this particular story? Rachel Davis  23:53  Well, right off the bat, that a student was being targeted by this employee.Alicia Thomas  24:02  To say, Yeah, I definitely think that that like, unique nature of the story was what was like, kind of shocking to us initially, because when we were sent a tip, I believe, I don't really know. I don't really remember who sent us what, at this point. It's been a minute since we started covering it. But I definitely think it was like, was so obscure, and like strange enough, but also like, preposterous, we were like, We need to look into it more. And that's kind of like what we do with like, weird stories like these when we have to, like investigate a little bit more because it was just like, some random employee and we were like, this cant be real. And thenLaura Mooney  24:52  Some random employee never heard of him before. Alicia Thomas  24:55  Yeah, exactly. It was crazy. Especially with like the political climate over the summer, that was a huge deal. You know, like all the Black Lives Matter protests, the black students petition on campus, this was just like another thing, showing like white supremacy in Raleigh. And just furthering that narrative, that was like huge over the summer.I think it kind of goes into, like, why student journalism is important, what like what we do at technician too because we feel it as journalists, and I'm sure, Laura, you understand as well. But like, as student journalists, we have a duty to inform students about who is around them on campus, and students have the right to know or feel safe and know whether or not campus is safe. So if that safety is threatened, obviously, that's newsworthy, and we have to cover it.Laura Mooney  26:00   Absolutely. And I think that's great commentary. Because in so many different ways, this situation was really I wouldn't say unprecedented. And we'll get into that later. But it was a really unique thing to look at. So because of all the nuances of this situation, how did the technician team handle covering the situation? What was your strategy for going about that? Well, I'll just say, it was really hard. because not everything was confirmed, right off the bat, because there were social media accounts where it did not have his name on it or attached to it. And we were kind of going off the metadata of the anonymous comrades collective. And we had no way to confirm that information, because we didn't have that information. So a lot of our coverage and articles on it was like, allegedly, and you know, surrounding around that language.Jaylan Harrington  26:59  I would also say it takes a lot longer than our recording usually takes, like, we were covering it like it was a breaking story, because it was breaking news to us. But we kept having to pause and wait for days to wait for more things to come out so that we can actually run something. So the articles took much longer to come out because of that.Laura Mooney  27:24  I guess regarding the fact that so much was unconfirmed at certain periods of time, how does that change the way you write about it?Jaylan Harrington  27:36  For me, I'd scribe most of the first two articles we did. What I really wanted to do was hone in on whatever was confirmed. So the, you know, we only got to the point that we could run the very first article. Once we had the fact that NC State was investigating that was confirmed we knew that and once we also had the video of Augustus Solinvictus, literally saying thanks for inviting me Chadwick. Seagraves, like, once we had those two things, it was like, okay, we can pare down all of the other stuff that we don't have confirmed and we don't actually have to highlight that, because we've got these two really solid things.Alicia Thomas  28:17  I also think it's like interesting to discuss, like, what is reportable and what isn't reportable or like, what isn't confirmed? Because what was reportable was that like, or there was so much stuff happening online, and like rumors swirling around, and that obviously, like, we can see that we can take screenshots of that and put that in the article and say, there is a lot of there are a lot of unconfirmed. I don't remember how we put it or even if we put it like that. I don't know, Jalen, can, I'm sure Rachel and I don't remember it as much as Jalen probably remembers that Rachel and I tend to like blackout when things like this are happening. When that's like rumors are swirling, we can report that, hey, students are talking about this. We've reached out to Mick Kulikowski, the spokesperson, and we'll provide updates. So like that's kind of how we treat like unconfirmed information to we can report that people are saying x, y, z about the situation, but we also have to reach out to like, the spokesperson and honestly, we have to reach out to see we had to reach out to Seagraves himself to get like it confirmed to be like HeyRachel Davis  29:49   I guess to go more off that about like the rumors and fact checking. There was a point in time where there's rumors on Twitter, that Chadwick Seagraves went to the Capitol riot in January. But we couldn't just put that out there because that's, you know, not very ethical without it being fact checked. And so we were able to, you know, do picture by picture fact-checking. And we were able to see that it was not him. Yeah, so I guess just a bunch of fact checking that takes a long time. And also being in constant contact with Mick Kulikowski University spokesperson asking like, because the investigation went on for a very long time. So emailing him, you know, every week every other two weeks about are there any updates on the investigation? And him just saying no. But yeah, being in constant like, following following up. I think when we first even reached out at that point, it had been, I remember was like an afternoon, I emailed him or I called him or something. He's like, I have no idea what you're talking about.Alicia Thomas  31:04  Because and university libraries had said that he wasn't an employee there. So we were like, does this guy even work at NC State? There was like a lot of rumors swirling and, like, sometimes it just takes a long time, like I said, because at that point, the when the rumors started swirling around, the university had no idea what was going on. It broke fast. It was the talk of the town really quickly soRachel Davis  31:34  it definitely was and I remember talking to Melanie flowers to see the vice president that day. And she basically told me that she couldn't really say anything. And the university couldn't really say anything yet without everything being confirmed. Because there was just so much left out there that nobody knew.Jaylan Harrington  31:53  Yeah. And speaking of how it blew up on Twitter, we usually don't like tweet super early when a story like that breaks unless it's something very confirmed. But when it first broke, there was like an internet mob harassing NC State libraries and their like why is this white supremacist, and they're like, we have no idea what you're talking about. And we had to tweet and be like, okay, the guy that there are unconfirmed reports about works in IT leave the libraries alone was like the implicit message that says, Yeah, yeah, no mob goes wild.Laura Mooney  32:29  So I think that transitions really well. And the next question that I had, because there's so much, you know, I think that there's a lot of talk now about how people choose to express their opinions on the internet, and I will avoid divulging my own opinion there. But there is that, you know, Twitter specifically offers a platform for people to share their thoughts openly and very widely. So what feedback Do you receive on your coverage of this Chadwick Seagraves story. Rachel Davis  33:03  I say our coverage was very, people liked it. Just a short thing, because not a lot of people were reporting on it. I mean, WRAL and everybody was reporting on it. But we were kind of constantly reporting on it, or keeping up to date having updates every now and then, especially towards the end, when the investigation did end, I think we were probably the first or one of the first news outlets to say that they did not find any, like evidence against him.Laura Mooney  33:41   I'm going to skip around some questions a little bit. In your opinion, how was this covered by other outlets? You mentioned WRAL, I know that I've read articles by Indie week, like, how does your coverage differ from theirs?Alicia Thomas  33:57   I think the difference between our coverage and like other local papers and news organizations, coverage is number one, I think we just like because we were NC State we were here, I think it's a lot easier to get access to administrators that there are a lot more like I know. It was a lot easier to just like, or it's very quick to reach out to whoever we needed to reach out to in upper administration to get like information first. As well as I think like student perspectives and student sources. I think because we are student paper we've created like we have a reputation where we are reputable. I like to think with most with many students on campus and they felt like trust in us to confirm information and talk to us to get more background information or talk to us off the record which I don't know. I don't know if WRAL or news and observer Indy week, other outlets like that had, they probably maybe did, but I don't know if they had their student sources and that's where I think that difference is Rachel Davis  35:24  Definitely with the student trust, I would say it's a big thing because yes, I think WRAL was at the freezeout protest a couple months ago, but they were just there for like maybe an hour or so and we were there the entire time, like walking around with the group. Every now and then. Also we- I just lost my phone-Alicia Thomas  35:51  I'll pop in while your thinking. Yeah. But I think like with new local news outlets, I can say this like when WRAL when we're doing like updates to Chadwick Seagraves coverage because I know we did it, or there was like more news that came out. I don't know. Recently, there always is something to be updated about Chadwick Seagraves, but when that's happening, it's just this is happening at NC State and university is investigating this employee here the allegations, bam, it's done, article is done. And I think that our coverage has been more, more more more nuanced.Rachel Davis  36:34  Yeah, it goes into my point that I forgot earlier. But we are able to publish like, student explainer pieces. So we just published a piece about, like, freedom of speech and why Chadwich Seagraves was not fired, because of you know, government employee roles, his place at the university. So we're able to explain to students why the investigation went the way it did, which other outlets probably do not do that. Also, since we are at NC State, and we are students, we were able to write an editorial on our thoughts of the situation, which I don't think any other news outlet did.Laura Mooney  37:20  I think okay, so I have a lot of thoughts there. And I do agree completely that your coverage was extremely nuanced, and that you do have the benefit of proximity to the student body into the event itself, which provides access that other outlets may not have had. And I do think that came across in your coverages, which was why I was excited to talk about you, talk to you, not about you. You mentioned several times having a direct connection to the student body because of that community of trust that the technician has fostered over 100 years of functioning. And so what are your perceptions of the student bodies feelings? What were student reactions to the allegations and then also towards NC State's decision not to fire Seagraves?Alicia Thomas  38:08   I honestly think the majority opinion the majority of a student body is outraged by this decision to keep him at the university. I know at the freezeout protests there was maybe one or two counter protesters in favor like supporting Chadwick Seagraves, but the rest of the student body I mean, there's still protests going on I it kind of died down, but I think last Friday, there was a protest against him. So I would say that the majority of the student body is still very angry that he is an employee here. Rachel Davis  38:46  Yeah, and I think some I yeah, I think a lot of people are still incredibly angry. And yep there have been protests there was one a few days ago. In protest of the university's decision, I do think there might be a silent a silent decent crowd of people who don't think that, who who stand by the university's decision, I mean, I think that we saw very clearly in 2019, during the TP USA event, how split our campus really is in terms of political ideology. I think that NC State compared to like our other, the other schools that are nearby, Like Duke and UNC is far more in the middle, in terms of political ideology we have. So I do think that there is there are a decent amount of people who do stand by the university's decision to keep Chadwich Seagraves on staff or whatever. And I think that has been a point of contention, just like between students, obviously, and staff, and something that we probably should be covering more as well. Just thinking about it,Laura Mooney  40:22   I think you bring up a great point with the turning point, NC State chapter and the culture wars protest, or the protest against culture wars that happened. And I think you're right, I think it is 2019. You know, honestly, in my draft of questions that I had, I wrote that this is not the only highly publicized and controversial happening at NC State's campus in recent years, and then referenced this same event that we're talking about. My original question was, how do you think these events impact public perceptions of NC State? But truthfully, I don't really care about the branding of NC State. How do you think that the continued recurrence of you know issues centered around conservative discourse? How do you think that reflects within the student body? Like, is this representative of larger trends within the university system? In your opinion? Rachel Davis  41:21  This is a great question Laura, or Jaylen, you want to take that?Alicia Thomas  41:26  I was gonna say, Jaylen, you haven't spoken in a whileJaylan Harrington  41:30   Of course, I would love to take this question. Um, I think it's just representative of a trait in the world or at the very least, the United States. Now we're more polarized than we've ever been. And I think, you know, the election of Donald Trump really made it a meme to be antagonistic, it made a meme to be openly all the -ists that you can be. So I do think that that's going to continue to happen, we're going to continue to have these events, there's going to continue to be clashes, and they're probably going to get worse. I wouldn't imagine they're going to get better anytime soon.Laura Mooney  42:11  I think that's a great question. And I also do think that, as reported by, you know, publications across the country across the world, honestly, Donald Trump's influence on political culture, even beyond American borders is far more nuanced than I care to touch on in a 30 second audio clip. But within NC State, particularly, you know, these issues were brought to national platforms, particularly after turning point when Donald Trump invited NC State students and NCSU TP USA members to speak alongside him in Florida and other conventions that he had attended. So I guess in the wake of these kinds of things continuing to happen, as a voice of the student body, how do you believe that student media or students themselves can function to hold the university accountable in these instances?Jaylan Harrington  43:12  I think by recording the truth, it's funny that you mentioned that Donald Trump invited people to speak at rallies. One of the people he invited to speak was Jack Bishop, Jack Bishop during that time of the culture war, that claimed that he was spray painted in the face viciously by I forget who the group was nothing at NC State, I think. So we reported that we also went back and my video session did follow up recording with one of the people who was in the tunnel. And we had multiple eyewitness accounts, saying that was not what happened, essentially, that he moved his head into the way of this spraypaint. So things like that, where, you know, certain narratives are going to be started by certain people is our job to find out what the truth is. And usually the truth is all you're really going to need to combat that.Alicia Thomas  44:11  I definitely also think that, um, like you were saying, it has been just like with the election of Donald Trump, that, like Jalen said the ists have been more normalized and because of that, universities and other public entities like at other establishments are seeing manifestations of that. You look at what in 2018 when UNC tore down, toppled the Silent Sam statue, and just the slew of events that happened afterwards that you know, Just go into a more in depth discourse about race relations in the US and how that fosters or trickles down into even like a university system and how university administrators perpetuate racism. Even if it's not, quote, unquote, intentional, I don't know, if I'm articulate, articulating myself well, but I do think that there have been a lot of trends we've seen of people, people who are advocating for a change on a university level to be more inclusive and diverse, and be explicitly and consistently against racism, and implicit biases, biases, and all of that, and then that directly being challenged by people like, organizations like TP USA, or counter protesters, who were like no, f that essentially and will like come protest. Or if they say things online to people and threaten them. Again, he is threatened, we have to cover it. Laura Mooney  46:37  Of course, I think you bring up a great point with talking about how consciously or otherwise administrative functions can perpetuate, you know, barriers to equality that for generations, for centuries have been sought by people who have been historically oppressed and continuously oppressed by these same barriers, and the list goes on of people who are impacted by them. And what was the faculty sentiment towards this thing, I know that you covered specifically faculty discussions and commentary in response to NC State's choice not to fire Seagraves.Jaylan Harrington  47:16  It was really confusion. They were just as confused as we were. And I think they also had the added element of they knew that students were going to look at them as like a mediary, between them and NC State. So their biggest concern was basically looking at what the university had done and going, Hey, you say you have all these values? You also say, you know, you can't fire this guy. How are we supposed to defend you? What are we supposed to say to students? That was really, really the biggest point that hit me. Watching the faculty senate meeting was they were just as outraged as students are, they were probably more confused. And they just didn't really know what to do at all.Laura Mooney  48:06  Now, this is a question that we've asked other parties that we're interviewing In this segment, and I think it's important to ask your opinion as well. In your view, was NC State transparent during the investigation? Did they consult student media in any way during that process?Rachel Davis  48:26   I do not think the university was as transparent as they could have been. The only reasons why we heard things about the investigation is because we reached out first. And even after the investigation, they wouldn't really say, I'm not sure about the laws and what they can and cannot tell us. But when they did make the decision that there were no substantial allegations against him. They didn't like say what their process was, you know, they just didn't really inform us. They just kind of said, it's done. And he's fine.Jaylan Harrington  49:05  Yeah, I'd say even the faculty senate video that gave us a lot of information, a lot of context as to, you know, the process that leaked, that was not something that was freely put out. That was something that somebody recorded, went out by themselves. So the process was extremely not transparent. And I think that's why NC State is getting so much bad press from this so much bad wolf from this, if they'd just come out from the beginning and said, Look, he may have done this, but we just can't fire him. Sorry, guys. The conversation would be different than them uou know, not saying anything at all.Rachel Davis  49:45  okay to ask Jaylen and Alicia, if you remember, did they even put out a statement at all?Jaylan Harrington  49:52  They said they were investigating is what I remember. I think. Or is at the very beginning was like we don't like white supremacy, obviously. And that was about it. There was never a very big statement put out.Rachel Davis  50:06  Yes, I would say that their lack of a big statement or just explaining what was happening, besides we will be investigating is pretty weak. And I would have liked as a student for them to have addressed it better.Alicia Thomas  50:23   I think this is like an issue nationwide too. Because, again, talking about like the silent Sam stuff, the trend I've noticed, and I think that like Rachel and Jaylen to like, I think that student journalists and students are just frustrated at the lack of transparency and communication about issues that are extremely important to students. Yeah, I think that the only big statement we got was like, right was before when they were like, yeah, we hate racism, heart. And then like, at the end of the investigation, they were like, sorry, heart, he still works here. Peace, love. But like you're safe on campus, which was like,Rachel Davis  51:17  it's like, how do we know that? You know, it's like they're saying that we're safe on campus. But we're not. We don't know that because you're not telling us any information of what you did or how you combated this issue. Like, you can't trust not to be like, don't trust the university. But after they said that, how can you be sure,Laura Mooney  51:38  Trust has to be earned. And as a student at NC State, despite the fact that I don't believe I represent groups who are directly targeted by this kind of rhetoric, perpetuated at NC State. I still recognize that trust, as I said, must be earned. And without providing that background context. As you said, statements, it's really hard for the student body to meet NC State and say, okay, we accept this decision. Which leads us to the final question I have. How do you think this issue will be handled going forward? Do you think that it's over now?Rachel Davis  52:20  I do not think it's over with him. I you know, I think it's over with the whole discussion. I think there will be more instances of people like this coming out or getting exposed but for Chadwick Seagraves I don't think it's over for him either. The fact that there was a protest last week. And he's getting one of the things for the freeze out protest was people writing him letters, and he's being mailed a letter every day saying that he should resign. So it is definitely not over in any capacity.Alicia Thomas  52:55  Yeah, I don't I definitely don't think it's over with him. Like Rachel said, I definitely think there are more people on campus with similar beliefs that are laying low right now. who eventually people start to question their morality in their place in a diverse and inclusive campus. Yeah, I think it's not over and so long as people, so long as we people continue to talk about it, and we continue to report on it. I hope that it like, I hope this conversation in this dialogue continues. So that I mean, I think that's the point of student journalism, but it's to start conversations and affect change and I hope that happens,Rachel Davis  53:50  for sure. And like what you're talking about with the university, I hope we never seen learned from this situation and that if there are instances like this going forward, they know how to better improve and how to better, like you said build trust with the students with handling these situations.Laura Mooney  54:14  From the feedback provided by technicians, staff members, it is clear that this issue is anything but resolved. Furthermore, with student government continuing to send letters to Seagraves letters that currently remain unanswered, there yet exist cliffhangers in this story. As students and staff members alike continue to put pressure on the university to align their words with their actions. The disparity between the two is striking. For more information on this story, visit technicians website at technician online.com. Their coverage includes report on all relevant information, opinion pieces from both students and from Seagraves himself and a staff editorial in response to the initial news break. Furthermore, they've also published the university's official statement on the investigation towards Seagraves and its results audience for tuning into this reflection on one of the semesters most controversial moments. This has been Eye on the Triangle only on WKNC 88.1Transcribed by https://otter.ai

FULL TRANSCRIPT OF EPISODEProvided by Otter.aiEoin Trainor  0:00  The views and opinions expressed in Eye on the Triangle do not represent WKNC or the student media.Good evening Raleigh and welcome to this week's Eye on the Triangle an NC State student run and student produced news show on WKNC 88.1. I'm Eoin Trainor. On tonight's episode Elizabeth Esser is talking about NC State's return to in person classes this fall with Dr. Amy Orders the director of emergency management and mission continuity at the university. Afterwards, Laura Mooney and I report on the controversy surrounding Chadwick Seagraves, an NC State employee who was accused of being a member of the proud boys, stay tuned.Elizabeth Esser  0:45  This is Elizabeth Esser reporting for Eye on the Triangle. Joining us today is Dr. Amy Orders director of emergency management and mission continuity here at NC State to discuss the university's plann to return to in person classes this fall. Thank you so much for joining us today, Dr. orders.Dr. Amy Orders  1:01  Thank you for having me, I'm grateful to have the opportunity to tell about great new changes on the horizon. Elizabeth Esser  1:07  To start us off, can you just tell listeners a bit about yourself and your position at NC State?Dr. Amy Orders  1:12  I have hit my 20th year at NC State. But my my position has evolved over the years within environmental health and public safety. And within COVID, it really took on a new a new face and a new paradigm of operation centric work was very important to move us forward in all the different phases. So our job has been to be responsive to the needs of the campus over the past year. Elizabeth Esser  1:35  How did the university come to the decision to return to in person class.Dr. Amy Orders  1:41   It was kind of an evolving conversation. We've been watching the public health information and changes in the CDC or recommendations from other public health entities for several months. And the whole idea is we knew we would return to normal and I have to use normal with air quotes at some point we were hopeful it would be sooner than not. So trending the virus itself that community transmission, the prevalence of vaccine and its distribution models, people, you know, following community standards, both outside of campus and in campus, all of that helped make a better informed decision on what was safe and appropriate to the idea of a normal fall really is a cascade effect over a couple of months. It requires us to go back and challenge what our safety practices are now what our community standards need to be what we need to do for changes in classrooms or physical spaces to invite people back to their offices or research environments or other areas. But all of that has to be mindful of the virus itself, we have to watch what happens in the public health sector. If we experience another wave of the virus and infections, then we need to be moderating in our decision making and pace appropriately. We're really hopeful though that normal fall can really mean back in the classrooms 100% or in a large capacity. Looking at our research operations, we've fully activated and then restoring our other campus special events, clinics, all of the above. So we are anticipating a normal start keeping that caveat in mind that if something changes, we pauseElizabeth Esser  3:14  So when we started with in person classes last fall seats were spread out. Teachers had plexiglass screens in front of them while they lectured. As of right now, what can we expect in person classes to look like in comparison to in person classes prior to COVID.Dr. Amy Orders  3:30  Some of the recommendations that are coming out slowly but steadily from the Centers of Disease Control really do tell us what the expectations are how to minimize exposure, maximize the experience. So one of the greatest examples that we're watching is public schools, you're seeing the decrease in the spacing. So we were at six feet physical distancing. And now the paradigm shifting to about three feet. When we in our classroom setting some of our classrooms may not be appropriate for different reasons. It could be ventilation, it could be the spacing, whatever that is, we'll continue to assess that even as recommendations come in and say hey, you can be closer together. In the fall though it was such an extreme situation, we were looking at every possible safety mechanism that layers into effect is the Swiss cheese model. If you can give Plexiglas and maximize distance and decrease the occupancy, then we minimize transmission in those facilities, what happens outside and you bring the virus in there, that's still a problem. Well, now that the virus load or the number of positive cases is going down, we can start removing layer by layer not all layers to be able to increase that experience as close to what we used to or we're accustomed to, in like the 2019 timeframe. So university will still look at these things very, very, very detailed and specifically such as plexiglass, like you mentioned, if a faculty member has some sort of experiential learning or in face obligation with a larger crowd. Maybe that Plexiglas is still appropriate because when you Talk, you actually spit, the aerosol is a concern. So we need to think about these things creatively and not assume that we take everything away because that may not be the situation.Elizabeth Esser  5:10  Residence halls will also return to full occupancy. Will any extra precautions be put into place there?Dr. Amy Orders  5:16  there are some standing precautions that we will maintain for sure. So, in our residence halls, single occupancy moving that back to regular double occupancy is is the goal. And still having a process for an exception as we have cases that are necessary to address but the heightened cleaning, having people understand what cleaning in their own personal space means. Understanding what it what the virus itself will exist in the background, how to protect yourself and be more effective and those measures will continue. The other part of it in the residence halls and across campus is messaging. We won't just take down everything that says you know, cover your face, wear your mask, it has to be a blend, a reminder, if it's cold and flu season, we tell people cover your cough and wash your hands. Let's do cold flu plus COVID because it will still exist. So still cover your cough wash your hands. It applies at home and the residence hall settings, it's going to be the same type of approach Elizabeth Esser  6:14  Does the university as of right now have plans for if there are major spikes in cases?Dr. Amy Orders  6:20  We keep that as a on the front burner conversation every day, our plans won't go away. So we will decrease the number of quarantine and isolation spaces in the fall. mindful though that at any point in time, if we have to increase those, again, we will so we have provisions in place kind of in a tiered process. If we have to go back and analyze what the best spacing policies are. We're hopeful that if everyone understands what the community expectations are, then we won't see those spikes we will go and have our social gatherings we may still have limitations on those gatherings. That's kind of a crystal ball that we don't have right now. But if we're able to look at those in a very methodical manner and make some plan decisions, then if we do have a spike we're ready to address.Elizabeth Esser  7:03  Finally, is there anything else that you would like for listeners to know about NC State's return to normal this fall?Dr. Amy Orders  7:09  I think there are two things that I'm going to add one is as some level of surveillance testing is going to have to continue. You know, it's going to be that COVID becomes endemic to society. At some point, it still exists, it's in the fabric. So it's just like seasonal flu it comes and goes. Our testing strategy may not be as pervasive as it is now. But some level of testing is still appropriate to make sure you're not missing some level of information that can better inform our decisions. The other thing is the vaccination process. It's starting to open up stores so widely, the opportunity to get the vaccine is making itself very much available to everybody. So in the next week or so you'll see the next group open, where we can actually invite the close to the 15,000 people who have pre registered for vaccination on campus into the vaccine clinic. Having that vaccination makes a world of difference because increasing the immunity across the board, we reach the closer to a herd immunity status that helps us get back to being able to gather and be in other places in a more social circumstance. I think between the two, because we're really cautious about how we're setting up campus physically, how we're telling people in our training, what to expect, setting the right expectations. It helps us also engage the individual and say some of this is on you. Get your vaccine or if not at your discretion. GO participate in testing, we would like to have that data help us meet in the middle. That will get us back to normal in the fall.Elizabeth Esser  8:37  Well, thank you so much again for joining us today. Dr. Orders. Awesome.Dr. Amy Orders  8:41   Thanks so much.Eoin Trainor  8:43  NC State University became embroiled in controversy this winter when some students began to question its commitment to inclusion and diversity. This came on January 11, when NC State announced that they would not take disciplinary action against Chadwick Seagraves, a university employee accused of being a member of the far right extremist group the Proud Boys. The allegations emerged last November when the anonymous comrades collective an anonymous left wing organization released a blog post and Twitter thread detailing Seagraves connections the group, the thread claims that he posted students and activists personal information online. It also includes photos from a 2017 anti Islam rally in Chapel Hill. These claim to show Seagraves pictured with Augustus Solinvictus, a prominent white supremacist who headlined the unite the right rally in Charlottesville that same year. Seagraves vehemently denies the allegations in a statement he said to paint me as a racist and fascist is heinous slander. NC State made its decision to not take action against Seagraves following a two month investigation into his conduct. In a statement, the University said the rigorous review did not substantiate any significant allegations. Following this announcement, student body president Melanie flowers signed an executive order designating January 19 as a day to protest the decision. I recently sat down with President flowers to discuss this, our interview details student government's perspective on the issue and offers a reflection on one of the semesters most controversial moments. For Eye on the Triangle I'm Eoin Trainor.First question, what was your and student government's initial reaction to NC State's decision to not take any action against Seagraves?Melanie Flowers  10:26  It was a few things. There was obviously a lot of disappointment at the results of the investigation. It's, it's frustrating, because I know, when all the information came out, at least for me, I was really nervous that there wouldn't be any actions that the university would be able to legally take with the investigation. And so that was really concerning for me seeing as the groups that the OIT employees affiliated with, I think it or I know it continues to spread and just perpetuate a culture of white supremacy on our campus. And that's, that's really nerve wracking, and unsettling, and, and more. And so it sucks, it more than sucks to, to know the university couldn't do anything about it. And it puts student government and myself and others in a place to think about what steps can we take to ensure that the people that the university employees are champions of diversity and inclusion and equity, like the university is trying to be?Eoin Trainor  11:38  In your view, was NC State transparent during the actual investigation? Did they ask for your input at all?Melanie Flowers  11:45  So I forwarded on information after it started to surface on social media. I wasn't asked for input. But legally, I don't have any role to play in the investigation. So that wasn't something that I would have really needed to be a part of anyways. Um, I think transparency is kind of a difficult topic, because I have I have the perspective of somebody who has the knowledge to know what legally can be put out for these kinds of cases and what can't be and like this is it's really an HR case. And I think students are definitely just very apprehensive in trusting the process and the University and I am too, because you just, you you see the results. And you see that Seagraves just continues to be employed here. And you wonder, like, what happened? And, and I get that, and I think that's why the transparency pieces, although legally, it was correct, I think I understand the frustration of what felt like crumbs of information the university was able to share.Eoin Trainor  13:04  Um, you signed an executive order creating a time and place for protests against the results of the investigation. What led you and student government to come up with this decision? Did you consider any alternatives?Melanie Flowers  13:18  This was one of the things that came out of my understanding of the fact that the university couldn't do anything legally. Student Government has a, a privilege and a power to use our voice in the way that our university as a public institution can't. And I didn't want to let that go to waste in student government. It's our job to represent students and voice their opinions and concerns in a way that's heard. And so this was our way of making sure that students knew that we were fighting for them. And we're feeling all of these things alongside them as well. And so this was this idea was really the idea. We didn't really consider other options it. It came about before the first day of classes, and it came about in about a week less thanEoin Trainor  14:13  can you tell us about how the protests went. What was your overall impression of what the students who were there were saying and what concerns they were expressing?Jaylan Harrington  14:23  So it was interesting, because we had to essentially publish the executive order in the protest, and the notification of the protests before students were back on campus. And even though students are back, we're not all here. So we kind of had a completely virtual launch of the protest. And there was a lot of online engagement across social media. And so we definitely felt like we had this student support. In person. We had a couple of dozen students attend and then we also had about 10 people for the virtual option which was awesome to see. attendees were thankful the ones that I interacted with, were thankful that we were saying something. And just making them feel like they weren't alone. I heard a lot of that because I think sometimes or not sometimes for a lot of students, you get this notification and you're alone in your residence hall. And you  you just wonder, like, Is anybody else feeling disappointed? Or is anybody else feeling scared? Or is anybody else angry or mad at this? And I think, actually speaking out provided that affirmation for a lot of students,Eoin Trainor  15:32  And your perception of how the general student body feels, is that any different or do you think it's fairly similar to the opinions expressed the protest?Jaylan Harrington  15:40  I'd like to think it's fairly fairly similar. I know there are definitely individuals who who question if it's student government's place to to protest at all, and there are definitely varying opinions about how we approached the situation. But from what I've heard, what I've seen, the the outcry about Seagraves, when you know, these accusations initially surface back in November, and how that continued over winter break, there's definitely a a larger message and group just just wanting to make sure that NC State is the place that we say we are. And so I think that's definitely the overwhelming the overwhelming opinion, it's just, we've got to do better and right now Seagraves continuing at the university isn't the university doing better,Eoin Trainor  16:25  Right, student government is planning on sending Seagraves one letter a day until he resigns. What does this been like so far? Has he responded? at all?Jaylan Harrington  16:37  I haven't gotten any responses to the office and we're sending them to the on campus office, I don't have his home address. My my guess is that they could be getting forwarded to his home address or they're there until or when he gets to the office. So yeah, that's, that's up in the air. I'm hoping to get a response.Eoin Trainor  17:00  And then even though NC State basically can't take any action, now the investigation is over. Do you think they should do anything else beyond the statements they've released to address the concern that they're not completely committed to equity and diversity?Melanie Flowers  17:16  Yeah, and I think some steps that we are taking, slowly, but surely, as I sit on several search committees, and what's starting to get added to job descriptions at the university is being a champion for the diverse populations that we serve. And it might not be those words exactly. But there are definitely statements and required qualities that are being implemented into all of these positions. It's not just the chief diversity officer who you have to have that competency. It's, it's a random engineer, it's a random instructor that needs to have that understanding. And so I think that's one of the ways that we're moving in the right direction to just make sure that objectively, when we ask anybody who's entering the university, what they're going to bring, we hope that inclusion and equity and a champion for everyone is a part of the qualities they're bringing to the university.Eoin Trainor  18:08  Given the controversy of the situation, has Student Government received any negative responses since the feedback? Have you received any threatening statements to either you or any of the protesters?Melanie Flowers  18:21  Yes. So as I said, I know there are opinions that disagreed with our, our strategy on addressing the situation. There are some comments on our Instagram page asking about you know, is this cancel culture is it SG's place to protest etc. And I think To that end, the University has done, I mean, as good as a job as it can to offer opportunities to educate yourself on diverse communities at NC State and really just in the world, and in North Carolina, and especially over the summer, those resources were shared very abundantly and pass that OIED offers DEI related trainings for for a lot of different communities. And I think there's just too much opportunity to learn, especially this year for this to be considered cancel culture. We, we know that white supremacy is a, a toxin to our community. And that's, that's not physics. So I feel as though there have been clear standards for what the university expects from its community members and those aren't met from what what I feel to be true about his actions and affiliations. Eoin Trainor  19:42  And then just to clarify like no, like any, just like complaints about like, cancel culture and stuff, not like threatening statements or anything, correct.Jaylan Harrington  19:52  Yeah, we, we were very fortunate to not receive death threats or anything of that nature. We did our best to protect the identities of protesters, it helps that everybody wears masks now. So that wasn't a huge concern. And then while we did take down names and contact information that was remained in the hands of a student government official, and its since then been discarded of and that was just for COVID-19 tracing in the event that that was a concern. We could contact people, but it was as anonymous as possible so we could ensure that peace would wouldn't be a concern.Eoin Trainor  20:32  And then, since the protest, is there anything else under your purview that he's been planning to do or have been able to do to address this situation?Jaylan Harrington  20:42  This is a really good question. I spoke to it earlier about the university kind of starting to standardize asking questions related to DEI in all interviews and how that's becoming a more standard piece of job descriptions. And so that's something that I will continue to push for in search committees that I'm a part of, and then also just trying to see what we can do to standardize that practice moving forward.Eoin Trainor  21:10  I think that's it but thank you so much for your time. Melanie Flowers  21:13  Awesome. I'm excited to listen for it thank you for covering thisEoin Trainor  21:22  OIED is NC State's Office for institutional equity and diversity. DEI stands for their diversity, equity and inclusion training programs. For more information you can go to diversity.ncsu.edu.Laura Mooney  21:37  President flowers interview sheds light on how NC State as an institution reacted to the allegations towards Seagraves. However, student perspectives vary greatly on this issue. For further information on student reactions and how other outlets covered the story. We reached out to members of Technician, NC State's longest standing student newspaper. For the latter half of this segment, we are joined by technician editor in chief Rachel Davis, managing editor Alicia Thomas and multimedia managing editor Jaylan Harrington. I'm Laura Mooney, and you're listening to Eye on the Triangle on WKNC 88.1.So let's just go ahead and do some introductions just for you know, when I introduce this segment, the audience members will want to know who's talking representing technician. So if you could share your names and positions at technician, that would be phenomenal. Rachel Davis  22:35  Hi, my name is Rachael Davis. I'm the editor in chief of technician.Alicia Thomas  22:41  I'm Alicia Thomas. I'm the managing editor at Technician.Jaylan Harrington  22:49  And I am Jaylan Harrington. I'm the multimedia managing editor of Technician.Laura Mooney  22:55  And for those who are unfamiliar with student media at NC State, I'm just going to do kind of a general overview question of why is student journalism important from the perspective of student journalists?Jaylan Harrington  23:11  I'll take that one. I think student journalism's important because it's really important to inform the student body of the current events that are happening on campus. We're really the only outlet that cares about the minute details that are happening on campus. So keeping the student body informed is really, really important to meRachel Davis  23:35  It also informs students about issues or maybe policies, the ways of the university that they may not have known about. Laura Mooney  23:45  The next thing I was going to ask was regarding informing the student body, what motivated you to cover this particular story? Rachel Davis  23:53  Well, right off the bat, that a student was being targeted by this employee.Alicia Thomas  24:02  To say, Yeah, I definitely think that that like, unique nature of the story was what was like, kind of shocking to us initially, because when we were sent a tip, I believe, I don't really know. I don't really remember who sent us what, at this point. It's been a minute since we started covering it. But I definitely think it was like, was so obscure, and like strange enough, but also like, preposterous, we were like, We need to look into it more. And that's kind of like what we do with like, weird stories like these when we have to, like investigate a little bit more because it was just like, some random employee and we were like, this cant be real. And thenLaura Mooney  24:52  Some random employee never heard of him before. Alicia Thomas  24:55  Yeah, exactly. It was crazy. Especially with like the political climate over the summer, that was a huge deal. You know, like all the Black Lives Matter protests, the black students petition on campus, this was just like another thing, showing like white supremacy in Raleigh. And just furthering that narrative, that was like huge over the summer.I think it kind of goes into, like, why student journalism is important, what like what we do at technician too because we feel it as journalists, and I'm sure, Laura, you understand as well. But like, as student journalists, we have a duty to inform students about who is around them on campus, and students have the right to know or feel safe and know whether or not campus is safe. So if that safety is threatened, obviously, that's newsworthy, and we have to cover it.Laura Mooney  26:00   Absolutely. And I think that's great commentary. Because in so many different ways, this situation was really I wouldn't say unprecedented. And we'll get into that later. But it was a really unique thing to look at. So because of all the nuances of this situation, how did the technician team handle covering the situation? What was your strategy for going about that? Well, I'll just say, it was really hard. because not everything was confirmed, right off the bat, because there were social media accounts where it did not have his name on it or attached to it. And we were kind of going off the metadata of the anonymous comrades collective. And we had no way to confirm that information, because we didn't have that information. So a lot of our coverage and articles on it was like, allegedly, and you know, surrounding around that language.Jaylan Harrington  26:59  I would also say it takes a lot longer than our recording usually takes, like, we were covering it like it was a breaking story, because it was breaking news to us. But we kept having to pause and wait for days to wait for more things to come out so that we can actually run something. So the articles took much longer to come out because of that.Laura Mooney  27:24  I guess regarding the fact that so much was unconfirmed at certain periods of time, how does that change the way you write about it?Jaylan Harrington  27:36  For me, I'd scribe most of the first two articles we did. What I really wanted to do was hone in on whatever was confirmed. So the, you know, we only got to the point that we could run the very first article. Once we had the fact that NC State was investigating that was confirmed we knew that and once we also had the video of Augustus Solinvictus, literally saying thanks for inviting me Chadwick. Seagraves, like, once we had those two things, it was like, okay, we can pare down all of the other stuff that we don't have confirmed and we don't actually have to highlight that, because we've got these two really solid things.Alicia Thomas  28:17  I also think it's like interesting to discuss, like, what is reportable and what isn't reportable or like, what isn't confirmed? Because what was reportable was that like, or there was so much stuff happening online, and like rumors swirling around, and that obviously, like, we can see that we can take screenshots of that and put that in the article and say, there is a lot of there are a lot of unconfirmed. I don't remember how we put it or even if we put it like that. I don't know, Jalen, can, I'm sure Rachel and I don't remember it as much as Jalen probably remembers that Rachel and I tend to like blackout when things like this are happening. When that's like rumors are swirling, we can report that, hey, students are talking about this. We've reached out to Mick Kulikowski, the spokesperson, and we'll provide updates. So like that's kind of how we treat like unconfirmed information to we can report that people are saying x, y, z about the situation, but we also have to reach out to like, the spokesperson and honestly, we have to reach out to see we had to reach out to Seagraves himself to get like it confirmed to be like HeyRachel Davis  29:49   I guess to go more off that about like the rumors and fact checking. There was a point in time where there's rumors on Twitter, that Chadwick Seagraves went to the Capitol riot in January. But we couldn't just put that out there because that's, you know, not very ethical without it being fact checked. And so we were able to, you know, do picture by picture fact-checking. And we were able to see that it was not him. Yeah, so I guess just a bunch of fact checking that takes a long time. And also being in constant contact with Mick Kulikowski University spokesperson asking like, because the investigation went on for a very long time. So emailing him, you know, every week every other two weeks about are there any updates on the investigation? And him just saying no. But yeah, being in constant like, following following up. I think when we first even reached out at that point, it had been, I remember was like an afternoon, I emailed him or I called him or something. He's like, I have no idea what you're talking about.Alicia Thomas  31:04  Because and university libraries had said that he wasn't an employee there. So we were like, does this guy even work at NC State? There was like a lot of rumors swirling and, like, sometimes it just takes a long time, like I said, because at that point, the when the rumors started swirling around, the university had no idea what was going on. It broke fast. It was the talk of the town really quickly soRachel Davis  31:34  it definitely was and I remember talking to Melanie flowers to see the vice president that day. And she basically told me that she couldn't really say anything. And the university couldn't really say anything yet without everything being confirmed. Because there was just so much left out there that nobody knew.Jaylan Harrington  31:53  Yeah. And speaking of how it blew up on Twitter, we usually don't like tweet super early when a story like that breaks unless it's something very confirmed. But when it first broke, there was like an internet mob harassing NC State libraries and their like why is this white supremacist, and they're like, we have no idea what you're talking about. And we had to tweet and be like, okay, the guy that there are unconfirmed reports about works in IT leave the libraries alone was like the implicit message that says, Yeah, yeah, no mob goes wild.Laura Mooney  32:29  So I think that transitions really well. And the next question that I had, because there's so much, you know, I think that there's a lot of talk now about how people choose to express their opinions on the internet, and I will avoid divulging my own opinion there. But there is that, you know, Twitter specifically offers a platform for people to share their thoughts openly and very widely. So what feedback Do you receive on your coverage of this Chadwick Seagraves story. Rachel Davis  33:03  I say our coverage was very, people liked it. Just a short thing, because not a lot of people were reporting on it. I mean, WRAL and everybody was reporting on it. But we were kind of constantly reporting on it, or keeping up to date having updates every now and then, especially towards the end, when the investigation did end, I think we were probably the first or one of the first news outlets to say that they did not find any, like evidence against him.Laura Mooney  33:41   I'm going to skip around some questions a little bit. In your opinion, how was this covered by other outlets? You mentioned WRAL, I know that I've read articles by Indie week, like, how does your coverage differ from theirs?Alicia Thomas  33:57   I think the difference between our coverage and like other local papers and news organizations, coverage is number one, I think we just like because we were NC State we were here, I think it's a lot easier to get access to administrators that there are a lot more like I know. It was a lot easier to just like, or it's very quick to reach out to whoever we needed to reach out to in upper administration to get like information first. As well as I think like student perspectives and student sources. I think because we are student paper we've created like we have a reputation where we are reputable. I like to think with most with many students on campus and they felt like trust in us to confirm information and talk to us to get more background information or talk to us off the record which I don't know. I don't know if WRAL or news and observer Indy week, other outlets like that had, they probably maybe did, but I don't know if they had their student sources and that's where I think that difference is Rachel Davis  35:24  Definitely with the student trust, I would say it's a big thing because yes, I think WRAL was at the freezeout protest a couple months ago, but they were just there for like maybe an hour or so and we were there the entire time, like walking around with the group. Every now and then. Also we- I just lost my phone-Alicia Thomas  35:51  I'll pop in while your thinking. Yeah. But I think like with new local news outlets, I can say this like when WRAL when we're doing like updates to Chadwick Seagraves coverage because I know we did it, or there was like more news that came out. I don't know. Recently, there always is something to be updated about Chadwick Seagraves, but when that's happening, it's just this is happening at NC State and university is investigating this employee here the allegations, bam, it's done, article is done. And I think that our coverage has been more, more more more nuanced.Rachel Davis  36:34  Yeah, it goes into my point that I forgot earlier. But we are able to publish like, student explainer pieces. So we just published a piece about, like, freedom of speech and why Chadwich Seagraves was not fired, because of you know, government employee roles, his place at the university. So we're able to explain to students why the investigation went the way it did, which other outlets probably do not do that. Also, since we are at NC State, and we are students, we were able to write an editorial on our thoughts of the situation, which I don't think any other news outlet did.Laura Mooney  37:20  I think okay, so I have a lot of thoughts there. And I do agree completely that your coverage was extremely nuanced, and that you do have the benefit of proximity to the student body into the event itself, which provides access that other outlets may not have had. And I do think that came across in your coverages, which was why I was excited to talk about you, talk to you, not about you. You mentioned several times having a direct connection to the student body because of that community of trust that the technician has fostered over 100 years of functioning. And so what are your perceptions of the student bodies feelings? What were student reactions to the allegations and then also towards NC State's decision not to fire Seagraves?Alicia Thomas  38:08   I honestly think the majority opinion the majority of a student body is outraged by this decision to keep him at the university. I know at the freezeout protests there was maybe one or two counter protesters in favor like supporting Chadwick Seagraves, but the rest of the student body I mean, there's still protests going on I it kind of died down, but I think last Friday, there was a protest against him. So I would say that the majority of the student body is still very angry that he is an employee here. Rachel Davis  38:46  Yeah, and I think some I yeah, I think a lot of people are still incredibly angry. And yep there have been protests there was one a few days ago. In protest of the university's decision, I do think there might be a silent a silent decent crowd of people who don't think that, who who stand by the university's decision, I mean, I think that we saw very clearly in 2019, during the TP USA event, how split our campus really is in terms of political ideology. I think that NC State compared to like our other, the other schools that are nearby, Like Duke and UNC is far more in the middle, in terms of political ideology we have. So I do think that there is there are a decent amount of people who do stand by the university's decision to keep Chadwich Seagraves on staff or whatever. And I think that has been a point of contention, just like between students, obviously, and staff, and something that we probably should be covering more as well. Just thinking about it,Laura Mooney  40:22   I think you bring up a great point with the turning point, NC State chapter and the culture wars protest, or the protest against culture wars that happened. And I think you're right, I think it is 2019. You know, honestly, in my draft of questions that I had, I wrote that this is not the only highly publicized and controversial happening at NC State's campus in recent years, and then referenced this same event that we're talking about. My original question was, how do you think these events impact public perceptions of NC State? But truthfully, I don't really care about the branding of NC State. How do you think that the continued recurrence of you know issues centered around conservative discourse? How do you think that reflects within the student body? Like, is this representative of larger trends within the university system? In your opinion? Rachel Davis  41:21  This is a great question Laura, or Jaylen, you want to take that?Alicia Thomas  41:26  I was gonna say, Jaylen, you haven't spoken in a whileJaylan Harrington  41:30   Of course, I would love to take this question. Um, I think it's just representative of a trait in the world or at the very least, the United States. Now we're more polarized than we've ever been. And I think, you know, the election of Donald Trump really made it a meme to be antagonistic, it made a meme to be openly all the -ists that you can be. So I do think that that's going to continue to happen, we're going to continue to have these events, there's going to continue to be clashes, and they're probably going to get worse. I wouldn't imagine they're going to get better anytime soon.Laura Mooney  42:11  I think that's a great question. And I also do think that, as reported by, you know, publications across the country across the world, honestly, Donald Trump's influence on political culture, even beyond American borders is far more nuanced than I care to touch on in a 30 second audio clip. But within NC State, particularly, you know, these issues were brought to national platforms, particularly after turning point when Donald Trump invited NC State students and NCSU TP USA members to speak alongside him in Florida and other conventions that he had attended. So I guess in the wake of these kinds of things continuing to happen, as a voice of the student body, how do you believe that student media or students themselves can function to hold the university accountable in these instances?Jaylan Harrington  43:12  I think by recording the truth, it's funny that you mentioned that Donald Trump invited people to speak at rallies. One of the people he invited to speak was Jack Bishop, Jack Bishop during that time of the culture war, that claimed that he was spray painted in the face viciously by I forget who the group was nothing at NC State, I think. So we reported that we also went back and my video session did follow up recording with one of the people who was in the tunnel. And we had multiple eyewitness accounts, saying that was not what happened, essentially, that he moved his head into the way of this spraypaint. So things like that, where, you know, certain narratives are going to be started by certain people is our job to find out what the truth is. And usually the truth is all you're really going to need to combat that.Alicia Thomas  44:11  I definitely also think that, um, like you were saying, it has been just like with the election of Donald Trump, that, like Jalen said the ists have been more normalized and because of that, universities and other public entities like at other establishments are seeing manifestations of that. You look at what in 2018 when UNC tore down, toppled the Silent Sam statue, and just the slew of events that happened afterwards that you know, Just go into a more in depth discourse about race relations in the US and how that fosters or trickles down into even like a university system and how university administrators perpetuate racism. Even if it's not, quote, unquote, intentional, I don't know, if I'm articulate, articulating myself well, but I do think that there have been a lot of trends we've seen of people, people who are advocating for a change on a university level to be more inclusive and diverse, and be explicitly and consistently against racism, and implicit biases, biases, and all of that, and then that directly being challenged by people like, organizations like TP USA, or counter protesters, who were like no, f that essentially and will like come protest. Or if they say things online to people and threaten them. Again, he is threatened, we have to cover it. Laura Mooney  46:37  Of course, I think you bring up a great point with talking about how consciously or otherwise administrative functions can perpetuate, you know, barriers to equality that for generations, for centuries have been sought by people who have been historically oppressed and continuously oppressed by these same barriers, and the list goes on of people who are impacted by them. And what was the faculty sentiment towards this thing, I know that you covered specifically faculty discussions and commentary in response to NC State's choice not to fire Seagraves.Jaylan Harrington  47:16  It was really confusion. They were just as confused as we were. And I think they also had the added element of they knew that students were going to look at them as like a mediary, between them and NC State. So their biggest concern was basically looking at what the university had done and going, Hey, you say you have all these values? You also say, you know, you can't fire this guy. How are we supposed to defend you? What are we supposed to say to students? That was really, really the biggest point that hit me. Watching the faculty senate meeting was they were just as outraged as students are, they were probably more confused. And they just didn't really know what to do at all.Laura Mooney  48:06  Now, this is a question that we've asked other parties that we're interviewing In this segment, and I think it's important to ask your opinion as well. In your view, was NC State transparent during the investigation? Did they consult student media in any way during that process?Rachel Davis  48:26   I do not think the university was as transparent as they could have been. The only reasons why we heard things about the investigation is because we reached out first. And even after the investigation, they wouldn't really say, I'm not sure about the laws and what they can and cannot tell us. But when they did make the decision that there were no substantial allegations against him. They didn't like say what their process was, you know, they just didn't really inform us. They just kind of said, it's done. And he's fine.Jaylan Harrington  49:05  Yeah, I'd say even the faculty senate video that gave us a lot of information, a lot of context as to, you know, the process that leaked, that was not something that was freely put out. That was something that somebody recorded, went out by themselves. So the process was extremely not transparent. And I think that's why NC State is getting so much bad press from this so much bad wolf from this, if they'd just come out from the beginning and said, Look, he may have done this, but we just can't fire him. Sorry, guys. The conversation would be different than them uou know, not saying anything at all.Rachel Davis  49:45  okay to ask Jaylen and Alicia, if you remember, did they even put out a statement at all?Jaylan Harrington  49:52  They said they were investigating is what I remember. I think. Or is at the very beginning was like we don't like white supremacy, obviously. And that was about it. There was never a very big statement put out.Rachel Davis  50:06  Yes, I would say that their lack of a big statement or just explaining what was happening, besides we will be investigating is pretty weak. And I would have liked as a student for them to have addressed it better.Alicia Thomas  50:23   I think this is like an issue nationwide too. Because, again, talking about like the silent Sam stuff, the trend I've noticed, and I think that like Rachel and Jaylen to like, I think that student journalists and students are just frustrated at the lack of transparency and communication about issues that are extremely important to students. Yeah, I think that the only big statement we got was like, right was before when they were like, yeah, we hate racism, heart. And then like, at the end of the investigation, they were like, sorry, heart, he still works here. Peace, love. But like you're safe on campus, which was like,Rachel Davis  51:17  it's like, how do we know that? You know, it's like they're saying that we're safe on campus. But we're not. We don't know that because you're not telling us any information of what you did or how you combated this issue. Like, you can't trust not to be like, don't trust the university. But after they said that, how can you be sure,Laura Mooney  51:38  Trust has to be earned. And as a student at NC State, despite the fact that I don't believe I represent groups who are directly targeted by this kind of rhetoric, perpetuated at NC State. I still recognize that trust, as I said, must be earned. And without providing that background context. As you said, statements, it's really hard for the student body to meet NC State and say, okay, we accept this decision. Which leads us to the final question I have. How do you think this issue will be handled going forward? Do you think that it's over now?Rachel Davis  52:20  I do not think it's over with him. I you know, I think it's over with the whole discussion. I think there will be more instances of people like this coming out or getting exposed but for Chadwick Seagraves I don't think it's over for him either. The fact that there was a protest last week. And he's getting one of the things for the freeze out protest was people writing him letters, and he's being mailed a letter every day saying that he should resign. So it is definitely not over in any capacity.Alicia Thomas  52:55  Yeah, I don't I definitely don't think it's over with him. Like Rachel said, I definitely think there are more people on campus with similar beliefs that are laying low right now. who eventually people start to question their morality in their place in a diverse and inclusive campus. Yeah, I think it's not over and so long as people, so long as we people continue to talk about it, and we continue to report on it. I hope that it like, I hope this conversation in this dialogue continues. So that I mean, I think that's the point of student journalism, but it's to start conversations and affect change and I hope that happens,Rachel Davis  53:50  for sure. And like what you're talking about with the university, I hope we never seen learned from this situation and that if there are instances like this going forward, they know how to better improve and how to better, like you said build trust with the students with handling these situations.Laura Mooney  54:14  From the feedback provided by technicians, staff members, it is clear that this issue is anything but resolved. Furthermore, with student government continuing to send letters to Seagraves letters that currently remain unanswered, there yet exist cliffhangers in this story. As students and staff members alike continue to put pressure on the university to align their words with their actions. The disparity between the two is striking. For more information on this story, visit technicians website at technician online.com. Their coverage includes report on all relevant information, opinion pieces from both students and from Seagraves himself and a staff editorial in response to the initial news break. Furthermore, they've also published the university's official statement on the investigation towards Seagraves and its results audience for tuning into this reflection on one of the semesters most controversial moments. This has been Eye on the Triangle only on WKNC 88.1Transcribed by https://otter.ai

UNC students elected sophomore Lamar Richards on Feb. 24 as the 2021-2022 student body president. Host Evely Forte spoke with Richards about what he hopes he’ll accomplish through his role as SBP, how his administration will be different from previous ones and what his legacy will be at the University beyond his role in student government. University Desk Editor Maddie Ellis also talks about Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz’s role with Silent Sam. Episode hosted by Evely Forte and produced by Praveena Somasundaram. Supervising producers are University Desk Editor Maddie Ellis, Digital Managing Editor Will Melfi and Editor-in-Chief Anna Pogarcic.

UNC students elected sophomore Lamar Richards on Feb. 24 as the 2021-2022 student body president. Host Evely Forte spoke with Richards about what he hopes he'll accomplish through his role as SBP, how his administration will be different from previous ones and what his legacy will be at the University beyond his role in student government. University Desk Editor Maddie Ellis also talks about Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz's role with Silent Sam. Episode hosted by Evely Forte and produced by Praveena Somasundaram. Supervising producers are University Desk Editor Maddie Ellis, Digital Managing Editor Will Melfi and Editor-in-Chief Anna Pogarcic.

Students who rushed Franklin St. after the UNC/Duke basketball game defend the celebration, as others raise questions about safety and privilege. UNC is investigating hundreds of possible violations to the COVID-19 community standards as a result of the celebration. Several members of the men's basketball team who were caught partying maskless following the game will face internal discipline, but no suspensions. Meanwhile, a group of UNC faculty is calling for Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz' resignation for his handling of the Silent Sam settlement. Students now volunteering at COVID-19 testing centers. We hear how singles and people in pandemic relationships plan to mark Valentine's Day.

On this episode, host Evely Forte chats with DTH Editor in Chief Anna Pogarcic about whether the UNC System BOG Silent Sam committee had any role in the two settlements with the Sons of Confederate Veterans. DTH Assistant Sports Editor PJ Morales also talks about the UNC-Duke basketball game. Episode hosted by Evely Forte and produced by Praveena Somasundaram. Supervising producers are University Desk Editor Maddie Ellis, Digital Managing Editor Will Melfi and Editor-in-Chief Anna Pogarcic.

On this episode, host Evely Forte chats with DTH Editor in Chief Anna Pogarcic about whether the UNC System BOG Silent Sam committee had any role in the two settlements with the Sons of Confederate Veterans. DTH Assistant Sports Editor PJ Morales also talks about the UNC-Duke basketball game. Episode hosted by Evely Forte and produced by Praveena Somasundaram. Supervising producers are University Desk Editor Maddie Ellis, Digital Managing Editor Will Melfi and Editor-in-Chief Anna Pogarcic.

Episode 53. July 10, 2020 CLP  Topic. Democrat Party Socialism The Right to Work Constitutional Amendment to Reign In North Carolina’s Rogue Lockdown Governor. Introduction. Our podcast today is titled The Right to Work Constitutional Amendment to Reign In North Carolina’s Rogue Lockdown Governor and we re-examine North Carolina’s history of tyrannical governors, to gain insight into the lessons of history about how common citizens deal with rogue governors. The most important lesson is that when the normal legislative channels do not work, and rogue governors ignore the rule of law, common citizens must take matters into their own hands to protect their liberties. We argue that the citizens must enact a constitutional amendment to clarify the rights of citizens during any future emergency declarations by rogue governors, who may use the emergency powers for political purposes. We argue that modifying, or amending, the defective Emergency Management Act is insufficient protection of citizen rights. North Carolina has a vast, overwhelming population of common, working class citizens, and a tiny percentage of social class elites, compared to other states. North Carolina is unique among the states because of its cultural traditions of radical egalitarianism among common citizens. The cultural value is captured by the phrase “We are as good as anyone. And, anyone is as good as us.” Part of our cultural heritage is that common citizens applied this egalitarian philosophy to social class aristocrats and royal governors in demanding equal and fair treatment on economic exchange issues. The rogue governors, then, and now, never appreciated being equated with common citizens, and used violence and fraud to subjugate Black and White common citizens to the elite tyranny. Part of our egalitarian heritage is derived from the historical fact that North Carolina was initially settled by settlers who were lower class migrants from other states, primarily Virginia. The felons and poor people came to North Carolina to escape elite class tyranny in other states. For many years, the state’s own historians liked to use the phrase “a sea of humility between two mountains of conceit,” to contrast the common class of citizens in North Carolina with the slaveocracy of Virginia and South Carolina. On a per capita comparison, North Carolina had many more common farmers and far fewer slave owners than either Virginia or South Carolina. One of our most honored and highest praise that we can bestow on a citizen is to call the citizen a “yeoman” derived from the tradition of our mountain independent, hard-working farmers. In general, as a people, we are very slow to anger, and very slow to adopt social change to the status quo. But, when we finally reach our limit of toleration, as a people, we are tenacious in defending out social values. For many years, historians from outside of North Carolina called the state “the Rip Van Winkle” state because the citizens seemed to slumber through the crises that affected other states. The Encyclopedia of North Carolina noted,           “There was general political apathy under the state's Democrat-          controlled one-party system, which resulted in widespread           indifference to all economic, social, and cultural improvements. A           letter writer to the North Carolina Farmer in 1845 voiced his           frustration: "O! that our State, . . . would wake up from her Rip Van           Winkle agricultural sleep!!" We were the only state, in 1788, that refused, on a matter of principle, to ratify Madison’s new centralized Constitution, until it contained a citizen’s Bill of Rights. For 3 years after the refusal to ratify, the Federalists inflicted serious economic damage on the citizens, in an attempt to coerce North Carolina into ratifying the defective document. The citizens of North Carolina were extremely reluctant to join the Confederacy, but once committed to battle, the State sent more soldiers to the Confederacy than any other state, suffered more casualties and death than any other state, and had more soldiers skedaddle, from the Army, than any other state. Our proud heritage of tenacity in the face of overwhelming odds is captured in the phrase from the Civil War:           First at Bethel. Farthest at Gettysburg. Last at Appomatox. Robert E. Lee admired the fighting spirit of the North Carolina soldiers by saying that they stuck to the front lines of battle and fought like they had tar on ‘dem’ heels. North Carolina citizens liked Lee’s description of common Confederate soldiers so much that they nicknamed the UNC athletic teams “The Tar Heels.” Silent Sam, the statute torn down by socialists, on the campus of the University of North Carolina, was a tribute to the courage of the common soldier, not to the slaveocracy of plantation owners. The common citizen soldiers of the Confederacy were acutely aware of their economic class differences between themselves and the slave-owners. One of their favorite sayings was that the War “Was a rich man’s war, and a poor man’s fight.” Unlike the plantation elite rendition, after the War as “the lost cause,” the common soldiers said that they were fighting for “a southern commonwealth of independent producers.” Later history, as in the fusion politics of 1890s, confirms that the purpose of the War, for common citizens, would have been to create a southern commonwealth of independent producers which was multiracial and egalitarian. An example of how common North Carolinians citizens have dealt with tyranny, after the War, is provided by the example set by Leonidas Lafayette Polk, the State’s first Commissioner of Agriculture, the founder of N. C. State University, and the leader of the North Carolina farmer’s agrarian populist party, whose political motto was,            “equal rights for all. special privilege for none.” Polk confronted the neo-slaveocracy of one-party rule of the Democrats by creating a third political party, which successfully won the campaign for Governor in 1896.  The Encyclopedia of NC noted,           “thousands of desperate farmers abandoned the Democrats, who           called themselves "the white man's party," for the Populists, who           claimed to be the poor man's party. The Democrat (white mans’s)           Party had abolished the right to vote in local self-governments in a           number of counties having Republican majorities. Local officials in           these counties had been appointed by the Democratic majority in the           legislature.” The Encyclopedia could have been more accurate by noting that fusion was a political coalition between common white farmers, and common Black citizens, that “fused” together to elect Republican Governor Russell, in 1896. We argue that this history of fusion would have been the desired outcome of the War for common citizens, but not for the slave-owners. The Democrat slave-owners organized a violent revolt to kill the populist insurgency, including the use of gatling guns and howitzers to kill unnamed Blacks in Wilmington, in 1898. After the Democrat white man’s party coup d’etat of the overthrow of the Republican Wilmington town council, in 1898, North Carolina endured 70 years of one-party tyrannical apartheid of white man Democrat governors. As Josephus Daniels, the owner of the Raleigh News and Observer, put it, in 1899,           “North Carolina is a WHITE MAN'S STATE and WHITE MEN will           rule it, and they will crush the party of Negro domination (Polk’s           Populist Party) beneath a majority so overwhelming that no other           party will ever dare to attempt to establish negro rule here.” One hundred years before the agrarian populism of Polk, North Carolina’s farmers formed a resistance movement to tyrannical royal governors, who had been appointed by the King’s Privy Council. Known as the Regulator Movement, 6,000 farmers joined forces in an armed revolt against royal officials, who were engaged in corruption and fraud, by charging the farmers with excessive fees, falsifying records, and engaging in other mistreatments. The farmer’s called themselves “regulators” because they wanted to regulate their own affairs, free from centralized tyranny. According to the Encyclopedia of North Carolina,           “A new governor, William Tryon, arrived in 1765; he was a British           army colonel and became the cause of renewed unrest, The           Regulators sought a public meeting with colonial officials to       discover "whether the free men of this county labor under any        abuses of power or not." In March 1771, the governor's privy     council advised Tryon to call out the militia and march against the          rebel farmers.” One lesson from that episode comes from Tryon’s seeking advice from his privy council, modeled after the King’s Privy Council, in London. The historical genesis of the Governor’s Privy Council is derived from John Locke’s first constitution of North Carolina, in 1669. The legacy of the rogue governors caused the common citizens to distribute executive power in the hands of many other elected representatives. From that point forward, all of North Carolina’s Constitutions have included a provision for the governor to seek advice from the privy council, renamed to the North Carolina Council of State. The most recent version of the North Carolina Constitution, adopted in 1971, states,           “Sec. 8.  Council of State. The Council of State shall consist of the           officers whose offices are established by this Article.” The “other officers” mentioned in Section 8, are the ten independently state-wide, elected executive officers, who share co-equal executive powers with the Governor. And, it is to this provision that citizens must now turn for insight into how to deal with Governor Cooper’s rogue Covid lockdown tyranny. (Tyranny Slips Quietly Into the Tar Heel State, Laurie Thomas Vass, The CLP News Network, March 29, 2020.) I am Laurie Thomas Vass, and this is the Introduction of a much longer copyrighted article of the Citizen Liberty Party News Network, for July 13, 2020. The other sections of the longer article include: Section 1. Governor Cooper’s Illegal and Unconstitutional Covid Lockdown Edicts. Section 2. The Inadequacy of Reforming the Defective General Statute 166A. Section 3. The Constitutional Amendment Imperative to Protect Citizen’s Right to Work. Our podcast today is under the CLP topic category Democrat Party Socialism, and is titled, The Right to Work Constitutional Amendment to Reign In North Carolina’s Rogue Lockdown Governor. The most recent podcast of the CLP News Network is available for free. The entire text and audio archive of our podcasts are available for subscription of $30 per year, at the CLP News Network.com.

We make our long-awaited visit to Spice Trade Brewing and chat it up with cofounder Jeff Tyler. Follow the show on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and find video of this episode at UnfilteredCraft.com. Many thanks to our sponsors, Elan Naturals and RoofTec Precision Roofing.

Adam Domby is my guest today. He’s a history professor at the College of Charleston and we’llbe talking about his research on the statue of Silent Sam at the University of North Carolina atChapel Hill. That statue commemorated a Confederate soldier and was erected at a main universityentrance in 1913. When Domby was a student at Chapel Hill in the early 2010s, he uncoveredthe dedication speech of the statue showing its connection to White supremacy. The statuewas pulled down by activists in 2018 and there has been an ongoing legal dispute over what todo with the statue. I’ll also be talking about Adam’s new book The False Cause: Fraud, Fabrication, and White Supremacy in Confederate Memory published in February this year, which is partially about thelies told by the people who sponsored this statue but mainly about lies told about NorthCarolina’s history after the Civil War and the function of those lies. You can follow Adam on twitter @AdamHDomby.  

In North Carolina -- there has been a controversy surrounding a Confederate Statue known as Silent Sam. This offensive pile of chiselled stone has been removed. Perhaps we should look elsewhere on campus for the last vestiges of the plantation system. Let's consider the athletic department; where those who do all the work are forbidden any opportunity to be compensated.

The COVID-19 pandemic has scrambled post-graduation plans for international students who want to find jobs in the U.S. The cost of the pandemic will lead the UNC System to seek millions of dollars in additional state funds. A judge has ordered the Sons of Confederate Veterans to return most of the money UNC paid as part of a shortlived legal settlement over Silent Sam. Many students who went home after UNC closed its campus have to keep paying rent for their empty off-campus apartments. Some North Carolina manufacturers have quickly pivoted to making emergency supplies. The stay-at-home order has prompted some students to pick up new hobbies.

  Episode 37. December 6, 2019. CLP topic category: Democrat Police State Socialism. Introduction. Our podcast today re-examines the destruction, in August of 2018, of the UNC Confederate monument, known as Silent Sam, Our podcast places the criminal act of destroying the monument into the larger historical context of the Democrat's effective use of violence to obtain their goal of a one-party political regime. Our podcast argues that there is an unbroken historical continuity, from 1898 to 2019, in the violence of the Democrat Party, using the cover of “white supremacy” as the justification of the violence to obtain political goals. The argument made in this podcast is that there never was a “New South.” As both W. J. Cash and C. Wright Mills correctly describe, the history of North Carolina is an unbroken continuity of the lawyers, bankers and merchant power elites in the Democrat Party using violence to obtain political goals In the era of Julian Carr, the Democrats used the war cry “Negro Rule,” to erect the racial apartheid system that lasted 80 years. The violence of the Democrats created a one-party, totalitarian white supremacist society, In the modern era, the Democrat Party uses the war cry, “white supremacy,” to justify their acts of violence to eliminate opposition. In their telling of history, the Republicans are a racist party, and Trump is a white supremacist. In other words, the term “white supremacist,” is a useful political term, that has no legitimate meaning, other than as a propaganda tool for the Democrats to legitimize their violence. Our podcast argues that the destruction of Silent Sam was a carefully coordinated attack, led by Carol Folt, a Democrat, whose text messages on August 20, 2018, show her collaboration with antifa and the police to “stand down,” four minutes before the statute came down. The main conclusion of the podcast is that violence works as an effective tactic for Democrats, and that the destruction of Silent Sam was a huge political success for the Democrats. But, the victory over Silent Sam will never be enough for Democrats. The Democrat's goal is to use violence to create a totalitarian society, where only politically correct socialist ideas are allowed, under the penalty of death. We believe that the differences between Democrats and conservatives are irreconcilable and unresolvable, under the current Constitution. On every single principle of a natural rights republic, the Democrats socialists have an alien, subversive, view of America. Today, nothing binds the two factions together in a common national mission. The socialists will never voluntarily obey the unwritten American rule of law because they will never share the cultural belief that all persons, institutions, and entities are subject to the equal application of the law. The only peaceful, non-violent solution to the nation's conflict is to dissolve the nation. We advocate the creation of a new constitution, based upon on the state sovereignty framework of the Articles of Confederation, which changes the representative republic to a democratic republic. Our constitutional principles of government are on our Democratic Republic of America website. You can follow our daily commentary on twitter, at @ltvtoo. I am Laurie Thomas Vass, and this podcast is a copyrighted production of the CLP News Network. You can subscribe to all of the audio and text of our podcasts, for $30 per year, at our website. You can join the political movement to create a natural rights republic and contribute our mission at CLPnewsnetwork.com You can learn more about the federalist, state sovereignty framework of the new constitution of the Democratic Republic of America at GABBYpress.com    

Question to John and Rob – While most of the focus has been on the COVID-19 pandemic there are still some news developments worth following. What’s the latest on the Silent Sam situation? Has anything further been resolved after the Superior Court Judge threw out the settlement?

"Diversity is being INVITED to the party. Inclusion is being asked to DANCE."  Verna Myers, D & I Expert Have you ever looked at someone in a work place and felt that THEY didn't feel respected/included?  What did that look like? Dr. Rumay Alexander, Professor of Nursing & Past Vice Chancellor of Diversity & Inclusion at UNC Chapel Hill continues our extended interview.  Rumay began our discussion of family feelings (both sides) surrounding the removal of the Confederate Monument, Silent Sam at UNC Chapel Hill.  As our discussion continued, we explored in great depth the feelings that underlie a lack of inclusion. Dr. Alexander expounded upon what respect looks like in a person's face and with examples from her own life, work experiences, and professional associations.  She speaks about these difficult topics in great depth and with passionate feelings.

"All I'm asking...is for a little respect..."  Otis Redding (Lyricist) 1967 for Ms. Aretha Franklin's #1 Hit Song - RESPECT How do we recognize respect? What does a beautifully diverse work environment look like? Is it just when we see faces of many different skin colors? Or are there other signs?  What are those signs?  When do we know whether diverse spaces are truly including the voices of those with different faces, skin colors, genders... than our own? These are the questions from my script. Dr. Rumay Alexander, Professor of Nursing & Past Vice-Chancellor of Diversity & Inclusion at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill answers... but BEFORE she does... her own story of being a Black Woman, growing up through the 1970's through today reveals decades of direct experience that brought her through the years in the U.S. in which diversity was not present and inclusion was just a dream.   This is PART I of my interview with Dr. Alexander.   She discusses the recent explosive developments with the Confederate Monument, "Silent Sam" which include the replacement of the statue BACK on the campus grounds after a dramatic covering in RED paint and eventual pull down and removal.    

The chair of the UNC Board of Governors reaffirms that Silent Sam won’t return to campus, but also expresses frustration at the ongoing controversy. A UNC campus organization has organized a trip to Israel and Palestinian territories, but critics of the trip are calling for a boycott. UNC wants to give East Franklin Street a makeover, but it could come at the cost of losing restaurants and other businesses that have been there for decades. As Black History Month comes to a close, a former plantation in Durham presents a lingering memory of slavery. The North Carolina Basketball Museum is missing the story of UNC's first black scholarship athlete, Charles Scott. A local musician creates a soundtrack for a classic silent film.

WRAL reporter Sarah Krueger has covered the intense debates over the removal of Confederate monuments in North Carolina, including the toppling of "Silent Sam," the statue erected by the Daughters of the Confederacy on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus in 1913 and the subsequent legal fallout. She discusses the complicated conversations that go into covering these events.

A judge this week reversed a settlement between the UNC System and the Sons of Confederate Veterans, making the fate of the mangled Silent Sam statue again uncertain.

After a judge voided the controversial Silent Sam settlement, Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz reaffirms that he doesn't want the Confederate monument back on campus. Early voting is underway for the 2020 primary, but it's not clear how many students will turn out. UNC has started a new Korean Studies major, and the popularity of K-Pop music is one of the reasons. As UNC commemorates Black History Month, some minority students are questioning the university's commitment to equality. UNC's football team has won an off-the-field honor. The new facilities at Kenan Stadium have been named among the nation's best.

Question to John and Chris – It’s been several weeks since we discussed the ongoing controversy surrounding Silent Sam. The Board of Governors’ decision is being challenged on all sorts of fronts in the press and the courts. Give us your take and where things stand with Silent Sam and where you see things headed.

Join our Patreon for exclusive bonus content! patreon.com/TheVioletWanderersGuess who's back? That's right, it's our favorite lawyer, T Greg Doucette and he's brought some tea to spill about the controversy over the Silent Sam statue. How did a lawsuit take less time to file, respond and complete than it takes for Alexis to get off? Who bragged about knowing their suit was bullshit?Why does Alexis keep interrupting Greg to make shitty sex puns and bad jokes about inbreeding?All these questions and more get answered this episode!Follow Ian: @dracodrakeFollow Kapla: @JustinKapla12Follow the show: @VioletWanderersFind us online: violetwanderers.comEmail the show: thevioletwanderers@gmail.comSupport the show (http://patreon.com/TheVioletWanderers)

With filing over on Friday the field is set for the March primary here in southeastern North Carolina, SBOE decides to allow Joe Walsh & Bill Weld on the ballot in March, Judge dismisses challenge to the Silent Sam settlement but also leaves the door open to revisiting the settlement as he takes a second look at it, and Star Wars makes a disappointing $175 million at the weekend box office.

The annual airing of grievances for Festivus, who will be on the ballot in 2020 and persistent questions over the "Silent Sam" deal are among some of the issues discussed.

Charlotte activists Alvin C. Jacobs, Jr. and Janelle Dunlap join Ryan Pitkin and Justin LaFrancois in-studio to talk about soccer in Charlotte, Eastland, the role creatives play in Charlotte, and Silent Sam.

In August, 2018 student activists toppled UNC's confederate monument, Silent Sam. In our final part of our 3-part series exploring the history of the statue, we dig into the question: what comes after Silent Sam?

The latest Silent Sam drama, the dispute over voting machines, and which politicians are asking voters for promotions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Biggs and Obee discuss the last Raiders game in Oakland and the future of Derek Carr. They are joined by Meg Bee to discuss the Silent Sam controversy and cultural appropriation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The ongoing fallout over UNC's deal to rid itself of "Silent Sam," a lack of transparency over state incentives to Apple and the possible return of former Gov. Pat McCrory in 2020 are among the topics discussed.

Major win for Boris Johnson and conservatives in the UK along with an embarrassing loss for Jeremy Corbyn and the labour party, House Judiciary Committee delayed a vote on articles of impeachment till Friday to the ire of Republicans, Attorney General Josh Stein criticizes the Silent Sam settlement, Civil rights groups file a motion challenging the Silent Sam settlement. And Richard Jewell opens this weekend but the plot may not be as simple as everyone thinks

New Civitas poll shows a lead for McCrory if he jumped in the Governor's race, Activists say the next Board of Governors meeting will be over a conference call to avoid protestors over Silent Sam agreement, and the urban-Rural divide starts getting attention in North Carolina as cities see double-digit growth while rural communities decline

Who's in and who's out as candidate filing opens for the 2020 elections, online scratch-off lottery tickets and the controversial deal to get rid of "Silent Sam" are among the topics discussed.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faced criticism this week for its decision to pay the Sons of Confederate Veterans $2.5 million, and hand over the Confederate monument Silent Sam which was erected during the Jim Crow era and loomed over the school's campus until it was toppled in August, 2018.

Candidate filing season is under way in North Carolina, so we review who's running and who's not. And with the courts signing off on new congressional maps, the races for redrawn districts are taking shape. Plus, the Confederate statue Silent Sam has new owners after an unusual agreement. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Law professors testify to Trump's impeachment and did absolutely nothing to change public opinion, Trump could deploy 14,000 more troops to deal with possible challenges from Iran, Activists on both sides of the Silent Sam issue register their disgust with the latest solution & more questions emerge on the legality of the settlement reached with the SCV, and Wake Forest & Garner cancel their Christmas parade out of fear of disrupters

Part 2, in our 3-part Silent Sam series. In this episode, we share the story of James Cates. James was born and raised in Chapel Hill. In 1970, when he was just 22-years-old, he was murderd on UNC campus. Journalist Mike Ogle has spent years researching the life and death of James Cates. We'll share his work and hear from community members who knew Cates, including those with him when he died. Season one of Re/Collecting Chapel Hill was supported by grant funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the federal Library Services and Technology Act as administered by the State Library of North Carolina, a division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

What was the meaning of the American Civil War? And why are we still arguing over this some 150 years later? In this, the first of our 3-part series on Silent Sam, we explore the purpose of confederate monuments and their impact on the African American community in Chapel Hill. From the work of United Daughters of the Confederacy in the early 1900s to spread their version of history throughout the south, to the first stirrings of the Black Power Movement at the end of the 1960s, we will hear how the white south's lost cause mythology affected the lives of black people, and how young Chapel Hillians began to push back on that narrative. We introduce one of our associate producers in this episode, Klaus Mayr. Klaus spent countless hours researching histories, collecting audio, and assisting in editing all three parts of our Silent Sam series. This episode was written and produced by Klaus Mayr, Molly Luby, and Danita Mason-Hogans. Editing by Klaus and Molly. Mixing by Ryan Chamberlain. With thanks to Aaron Keane for audio recording, technical assitance, and production coaching. Season one of Re/Collecting Chapel Hill was supported by grant funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the federal Library Services and Technology Act as administered by the State Library of North Carolina, a division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

History, says UNC professor William Sturkey, isn’t necessarily what happened. “It’s what gets written down.” Recent events like the renaming of Saunders Hall, and the national attention focused on the Silent Sam confederate monument, have forced Carolina to reckon with the unwritten parts of its racial history. That’s the point of the “Race and Memory at UNC” class taught by Sturkey, an assistant professor of history. His class is one of 18 in the University’s shared learning initiative, titled “Reckoning: Race, Memory and Reimagining the Public University.” Over 800 students are taking courses. Sturkey's class is the only one designed specifically for the initiative. It is by far the largest, with over 100 students enrolled. Sturkey doesn't want to reinvent the wheel. He just wants to teach history in a much more transparent and honest way. And if that makes some folks uncomfortable, well, that gives him fuel for the fire. Because he doesn't want his grandchildren to be having these same racial arguments 100 years from now. More about William Sturkey: “Some Things That Are Just Wrong,” in the November/December 2019 Carolina Alumni Review. https://unc.live/2Oq4f7o

  Taking Down Racist Monuments and Growing New Worlds This week on TFSR, we're featuring two audios from affiliates of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Maya Little & Dwayne Dixon talking about resisting neo-Confederate monuments in the so-called U.S. south, in particular the statue called "Silent Sam" that was toppled August 20th, 2018. Maya Little First, we'll hear graduate student worker and anti-racist activist Maya Little speak about their research into the racist history of the constructed landscape and neo-confederate symbols in and around Chapel Hill and Carrboro, North Carolina. Maya also speaks about the recent resistance to the the specific statue called Silent Sam at UNC Chapel Hill and the far right and cop repression faced by students and anti-racist activists to push for and eventually enact it's removal. Maya can be found on twitter at @readkropotkin and contributes writing to the project @CuddlePotMag. Within a few days of the broadcast, we hope to have links to the pictures spoken about in Maya's presentation and to integrate those into the youtube post of this episode. Dwayne Dixon Then, Dwayne Dixon, an adjunct professor of cultural anthropology at UNC and an anti-racist activist talks about personal experiences of coming up in a white, military family in the U.S., experiences of struggle against white supremacists and their symbols in the so-called US south in recent years and the inspirational strength of those struggles interlacing and expanding into ecological defense work, disaster response and the building of autonomous, anti-capitalist community infrastructures. Dwayne is also involved in the community defense group, Piedmont Redstrings, as well as Take Action Chapel Hill and @DefendUNC on twitter. If you listened on the radio, you can find a longer version of the show (including Sean Swain's segment and a few announcements) as a podcast up at our website and various streaming platforms. Announcements New Broadcasters in VT & OR! We're excited to announce that The Final Straw can now be heard on Fridays from 6-7am on WGDR, 91.1fm out of Goddard College in Plainfield, VT as well as in Eugene, OR on KEPW 97.3FM on Saturdays from 9-10pm local time. Hello, new listeners, we're proud to be in your ears. Please reach out to us if you have concerns, critiques or suggestions. BADNews, June 2019 Tiny House Warriors Respond to Trudeau Gov't Passing Trans Mtn Pipeline Lorenzo Komb'oa Ervin Medical Fund . ... . ..  Playlist  

The legacy of August 12, 2017, in Charlottesville haunts America. The precipitating event, the removal of Confederate monuments, continues to be debated in southern cities and on college campuses. This is a conversation that warrants sustained historicization. Host John Fea lends his thoughts to the recent toppling of "Silent Sam" at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. They are joined by University of Virginia-based historian and podcaster Nicole Hemmer (@pastpunditry) who recently dropped her own serial podcast, A12, in response to her experiences during the violence of the "Summer of Hate." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's 17 years and a day after 9/11 and Iraq is still in shambles, so we rip apart liberals for thinking George W. Bush is somehow “cute”. 2001 pops up again when we compare the current economic crisis in Argentina to the wave of worker-led factory takeovers and anarchist media that resisted the last economic meltdown there. We call for anarchists to incorporate a critique of nationalism itself into our anti-fascist strategy and analysis, we include preliminary information for autonomous relief efforts based in mutual aid for #HurricaneFlorence, and we wrap up the National #PrisonStrike with an action report and a bunch of phone-zaps! Send us news, events, or ideas on how our show can better serve anarchist activity in your town by emailing us at podcast@crimethinc.com. {September 12, 2018}   -------SHOW NOTES------   Table of Contents: Introduction {0:00} George W. Bush is not cute {0:50} The other 9/11 {2:45} Economic collapse in Argentina… again {4:00} Bringing back the anarchist critique of nationalism {5:25} Here come the hurricanes—time for mutual aid {11:00} #PrisonStrike ends {14:55} Repression roundup {20:35} Next Week's News {27:40} Download 29:30 minutes long version. Autonomous Mutual Aid in the wake of Hurricane Florence You can contact Tidewater IWW in the Norfolk, VA area or Blue Ridge Autonomous Defense Crew in North Carolina Fundraiser for grassroots hurricane relief after Florence Hurricane Florence prisoner solidarity phone zap Message regarding Hurricane Florence from our comrades in Mutual Aid Disaster Relief. Mutual Aid Disaster Relief will give a brief presentation on September 15th at 10:30am at the Uplift Climate Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Anarchist book fairs this weekend: September 15: The Eastern Connecticut Workers Bookfair in Parade Plaza, New London, Connecticut September 15: The 23rd annual Bay Area Anarchist Bookfair in Oakland, California September 28–30: The 12th annual Balkan Anarchist Bookfair in Novi Sad, Serbia Upcoming anti-fascist action: September 15: Stop the League of the South from disrupting TriPride in Johnson City, TN September 29: Oppose the League of the South's rally in Elizabethton, TN. Stay tuned to @HollerNetwork and @knoxradical for updates. Argentina: The documentary The Take looks at factory takeovers and a little of the abstentionist anti-voting movement in Argentina as a response to the economic crisis of 2001 Keep up with resistance news in Argentina through Indymedia Argentina and the excellent anti-authoritarian TV channel Antena Negra Other relevant CrimethInc. output: Our take on September 11 Learn more about the legacy of the September 11, 1973 coup in Chile through the insurrectionary documentary The Chicago Conspiracy Hotwire #3, Hotwire #6, and Hotwire #9 have interviews about mutual aid based, autonomous relief efforts in Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico. Some anarchist critiques of nationalism: Patriotism: A Menace to Liberty by Emma Goldman Peace is Patriotic, and That's the Problem Against Nationalism by Anarchist Federation Donate to the legal defense fund for anti-racists and anti-fascists arrested in relation to the Silent Sam confederate monument in Chapel Hill, North Carolina Check out this guide on experiences and reflections dealing with undercover police infiltration in Toronto Evictions HAVE BEGUN in the Hambach Forest! If you're in Europe, make your way to the Hambach Forest in Germany to help defend it, and the radical Ewok village of forest defenders who live there. Also, check out our audio documentary about the forest and the defense campaign to stop the cutting. Pre-sales are OPEN for the 2019 Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners calendar! The theme of next year's calendar is Health/Care, and it features art and writing from current and former political prisoners like David Gilbert, Mike and Chuck Africa, and Laura Whitehorn. If you buy 10 or more, be sure to use the discount code “BULK” to get 10 or more calendars for $10 each—you can then sell the calendars to fundraise for your own organizing. Orders start shipping September 10! Use this straightforward guide to writing prisoners from New York City Anarchist Black Cross to write imprisoned American Indian Movement warrior Leonard Peltier. Leonard Peltier #89637–132 USP Coleman I Post Office Box 1033 Coleman, Florida 33521 Phone zap for Jason Walker You can contact the TDCJ Ombudsman at ombudsman@tdcj.texas.gov, as well as the Telford Unit's management at 903–628–3171 and garth.parker@tdcj.texas.gov. You can speak to the Regional Director's office at (903) 928–2623, billy.howard@tdcj.texas.gov and carl.mckellar@tdcj.texas.gov. Contact details for TDCJ head office are (936) 295–6371, Bryan.Collier@tdcj.texas.gov and exec.director@tdcj.texas.gov Script for phone calls: “Hello, I am contacting you as I have been made aware of a pattern of bogus disciplinary cases being issued by CO Renitia T. Davis. In particular, I wish to request that you bring in an appropriate outside investigator to fully investigate the recent cases issued to inmates Jason Renard Walker #1532092 and Logan Newsome #2163761 with an eye to getting these fraudulent cases overturned and expunged immediately, as well as conducting a full investigation into Officer Davis' history. Beyond this, I demand that you cease all forms of harassment and retaliation against Jason Walker, including but not limited to the issuing of bogus cases, the censorship of his correspondence, and the denial of access to heat respite. Please investigate and overturn all recent cases and disciplinary measures issued to Mr. Walker by Telford Unit staff, and investigate the conduct of Lieutenant Estrada, Sergeant Gilstrap, Sergeant Sartin, and Lieutenant Ricks, who have all played a role in the campaign of harassment. Thank you” Phone zap for Kevin Rashid Johnson Monday morning, starting at 9 AM, please phone and email the official in charge of interstate compact: Chief of Corrections Operations David Robinson. You can call the main office number at 804–674–3000 and ask to be transferred to his phone line. Robinson's email address is david.robinson@vadoc.virginia.gov When leaving a message or talking to Mr Robinson, refer to Rashid by his legal name Kevin Johnson. Explain that he is better off in Virginia, that he has been subjected to serious human rights abuses during previous transfers. We have a Twitter! Follow @HotwireWeekly and send us news that we should include in the show.  

This week, you will hear updates from the Stony Creek tenant strike in Canada, some creative anti-ICE actions, and about some humorous and some of the alt-right's recent losses. We interview Maya Little about the recent toppling of a confederate statue in North Carolina on Monday. Maya shares information about the impact of the statue on campus, some history, and some initial feelings after the fall of Silent Sam. We kick off the nationwide prison strike with an interview with an outside supporter of the strike, and a reportback from an attendee of a noise demonstration outside a prison. Finally, we wrap up the show with political prisoner birthdays and next weeks news. We're glad to be back! Send us news, events, or ideas on how our show can better serve anarchist activity in your town by emailing us at podcast@crimethinc.com. {August 22, 2018}   -------SHOW NOTES------   Table of Contents: Introduction {0:00} Headlines {0:50} #PrisonStrike {7:50} Confederate monument toppling {20:10} Repression roundup {33:00} Next Week's News {40:55} [Download 29:30 minutes long version.](http://traffic.libsyn.com/exworker/RADIO_VERSION_The-Hotwire_33_PrisonStrike-kicks-off_racist-statue-toppled-in-NC_alt-right-get-self-doxxed.mp3) The August 21 #PrisonStrike has begun! Check out the Incarcerated Workers website for more information, resources, and the list of prisoner's demands. Also, episode #50 of The Ex-Worker is all about the 2016 national #PrisonStrike. Check out our newest article documenting how the confederate statue, Silent Sam, came down in North Carolina. Check out this article about Joseph Dibee – an alleged ELF fugitive who was just captured, and find out why this case matters. READ these texts written by Black Liberation Army prisoner Russel “Maroon” Shoatz: The Dragon and the Hydra The Real Resistance to Slavery in North America Black Fighting Formations Read this hilarious story about a clever trick used to get people on the far-right to dox themselves! Anarchist prisoner Sean Swain is being held in solitary. Call Director Gary Mohr at 614–387–0588 or e-mail drc.publicinfo@odrc.state.oh.us or melissa.adkins@odrc.state.oh.us (Administrative Assistant for Mohr). You can use this script: “I am calling on behalf of Sean Swain, inmate #243–205. I am a friend of Sean. I am calling to request the ODRC grant Mr. Swain's appeal regarding his most recent disciplinary record, drop the charges, and lower his security level from 5b to 2. Mr. Swain is not a physical security risk, and there is no reason to keep him at such a high security rating where he will be unable to get the programming he needs to be eligible for rehabilitation and parole. Thank you for your consideration.” Ramona Africa has been hospitalized and needs monetary support, Donate to he Go Fund Me Use this straightforward guide to writing prisoners from New York City Anarchist Black Cross to write Joseph Dibee, Erik King and, Russell Maroon Shoats. Joseph Dibee #812133 Multnomah County Detention Center 11540 NE Inverness Drive Portland, Oregon 97220 Eric King #27090–045 USP Florence – High US Penitentiary PO Box 7000 Florence, CO 81226 Russell Maroon Shoatz #AF–3855 SCI Graterford Post Office Box 244 Graterford, Pennsylvania 19426 We have a Twitter! Follow @HotwireWeekly and send us news that we should include in the show.    

Silent Sam bites the dust. Today's topics include: college students from the University of North Carolina tore down a monument commemorating the Confederacy...here's the problem though...most of those same college kids probably couldn't tell you who won the Civil War; David Smith (The Greatful American Foundation) continues the conversation about why so many American's are lacking basic knowledge in the histoy and civics of our country - and how teacher's need to be held more accountable; also, Alison Centofante (Director of Strategic Communications for Live Action) discusses the horrendous abuse taking place at Planned Parenthood and the fight Live Action - a pro-life organization - is taking against abortion clinics.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The second and last of a two-part conversation on mobilization efforts to remove Confederate statues from public spaces. This episode is guided by the narratives of UNC students and staff regarding the presence of Silent Sam and efforts to have it removed. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/fragmentpodcast/support

This two-part episode is centered on mobilization efforts to remove Confederate statues in public spaces. This week's episode sets the historical and social background of events that have led to the heightened resurgence of efforts to remove Confederate monuments in public spaces, particularly on collegiate campuses. Next week's episode will explore the commentary of UNC-CH students and faculty involved in mobilization efforts to have the Confederate statue, Silent Sam, removed. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/fragmentpodcast/support