Hundreds of criminology professors, grad students join nationwide call for UNCW to fire Mike Adams

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - Nearly 270 criminology professors and graduate students from across the country are calling on UNCW to fire Mike Adams.

Adams, who is a tenured criminology professor at UNCW, has, for years, posted offensive comments on social media—comments perceived as racist and sexist. Recent posts, however, have gotten the attention of Hollywood celebrities who say Adams should not be teaching.

Now, Adams’ colleagues across the country are joining the call for this termination, issuing a statement Monday that contained 267 names of professors and graduate students from universities such as Dartmouth, Michigan State University, and UNC-Chapel Hill.

“Professor Adams hides behind the veil of ‘free speech,’ but through his rhetoric on Twitter and his column he has harassed, threatened, and spread hateful speech against students and faculty. In 2016, he wrote a column titled “A ‘Queer Muslim’ Jihad”, about a former UNCW student in which he writes, “her claims to be a ‘queer Muslim’ are probably part of an act designed to fit into as many victim categories as humanly possible. Sometimes I wonder whether LGBT stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Thespian.” He has also tweeted “Statistics show that 10 out of 10 aborted black babies are unarmed” as well as “When you write the university asking them to fire me don’t forget to leave a mailing address so I can send you a box of panty liners.”

The press release goes on to say the following:

“Adams has even referred to the safety measures taken by the state of North Carolina as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic as him being in a “slave state,” in which he tweets “This evening I ate pizza and drank beer with six guys at a six seat table top. I almost felt like a free man who was not living in the slave state of North Carolina. Massa Cooper, let my people go!” This rhetoric and behavior, especially in the Department of Sociology and Criminology, is unacceptable and sends a message to students that the very ideals taught in his department (i.e. justice and equity) do not exist.”

The 267 professors and graduate students who signed up to call for Adams’ termination say he has violated the UNC system code.

“We, the undersigned, wish to join the thousands of people calling on you to do the right thing and all of the UNCW students, past and present, who are demanding that you champion justice and equality at your institution. It is time that UNCW no longer pays lip service to the ideals of inclusion and anti-racism - it is time for UNCW to demonstrate, through action, a TRUE and sincere commitment to your “moral obligation to stand up against acts of hatred and violence.”

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