In an e-mail message sent Feb. 6 to her "Literature and Cultural Diversity" students, the lecturer, Elyse Crystall, wrote, "[W]hat we heard [T]hursday at the end of class constitutes 'hate speech' and is completely unacceptable. [I]t has created a hostile environment."
She referred to Tim as "a white, heterosexual, [C]hristian male" who "can feel entitled to make violent, heterosexist comments and not feel marked or threatened or vulnerable."
Crystall apologized to the class Monday, and university officials said they're monitoring the class to ensure students' free speech.
The episode is whipping up a fresh political uproar at a campus that has gained national attention for its freshman reading assignments the past two years.
On Thursday, U.S. Rep. Walter B. Jones, a Farmville Republican, called for state Attorney General Roy Cooper to look into whether the professor broke any state laws. Jones also is asking the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights to investigate.
"Had Ms. Crystall substituted the word 'black' for 'white,' 'homosexual' for 'heterosexual' or 'Muslim' for 'Christian,' she would have been suspended or fired immediately," Jones wrote in a letter to UNC-CH Chancellor James Moeser. "Instead, the student in question was forced to go to an online message board to defend himself to his classmates, his academic future left in the hands of the likes of Ms. Crystall."
The class message board is not open to the public.
In a letter to Jones on Thursday, Moeser said the university took the incident very seriously and would see to it that students in the class are treated fairly and not penalized by their views.
"At Carolina, our responsibility is to remain a vibrant intellectual community in which all viewpoints can be comfortably expressed and heard in an atmosphere of respect," he wrote. "Universities exist to promote the free exchange of ideas. As a public university, we at Carolina have a special responsibility to vigorously protect the right of everyone to be heard."
The student, contacted late Thursday, asked that his name not be used. Crystall did not return phone calls or e-mail.
Corrective measures
English Department Chairman James Thompson said he had spoken with the student and the lecturer on several occasions, persuaded Crystall to apologize, and appointed a faculty member to monitor the class for the rest of the semester. That person occasionally will sit in and make sure grading is fair, Thompson said.
"We investigated the situation and corrected it, and that was sufficient," Thompson said.
On Monday, Crystall sent an e-mail apology to her students. "I regret that my e-mail to you last week crossed a line and inhibited free discussion," she wrote. "And I am sorry if anyone was offended by my e-mail; my intention was to promote respectful conversation among us, not to censor anyone. We should not make specific examples of anyone, and I should not have named anyone."
The episode has been criticized by conservative activists and a student newspaper columnist, who wrote, "The Chapel Hill Thought Police are at it again."
Some students say the incident reflects a hostility to conservative ideas at UNC-CH.
"I do think it's indicative of a larger atmosphere on campus," said junior Laura Thomas, a member of the College Republicans and a recent candidate for student body president. "It shows the bias that some professors hold."