A few weeks ago I reported on an incident at UNC-Wilmington involving the punishment of a fraternity for the brief display of a banner, which included a small representation of a Confederate Flag. I referred to the fraternity with a pseudonym (Alpha Epsilon Sigma) in order to respect their wishes to avoid turning the conflict into a major news story. Now that the fraternity has reconsidered and decided to fight UNCW I am free to refer to the fraternity by its real name, Sigma Alpha Epsilon.

In my previous column, I asked readers around the country to a) write a donation to UNCW in the amount of $.02, and b) demand a receipt via mail. This was done to make sure the university paid a $.40 fine (two cents minus forty-two cents for a stamp) to all of my readers who were offended by a public university that punishes constitutionally protected activity as so-called hate speech.

(Note: I also asked people to join me in sending Confederate Flags to Office of the Chancellor, Alderman Hall, UNCW, Wilmington, NC, 28403).

Just a few days before Christmas UNCW started to mail back checks with the following form response: “We have received your check in response to the alleged Confederate Flag incident. You have been misinformed. We are returning your check because no fraternity or other student organization has been suspended due to a display of a Confederate Flag. Thank you.”

In other words, the university is accusing me of lying. They are also indirectly accusing my three sources - two officers of SAE and their chapter advisor – of lying. But anyone familiar with UNCW knows we are all telling the truth and, as usual, the administration is the party guilty of deception.

This kind of dishonesty among university administrators has become a serious problem. First, the university enacts speech codes, which clearly violate the First Amendment. Second, the university selectively enforces the codes in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. Finally, they top it all off by lying to the public and falsely accusing their students and faculty of lying.

This simply cannot continue. And today I plan to do something about it by exposing the university administration for both unconstitutional activity and blatant dishonesty. Relying upon NCGS 132 – the public records law of North Carolina – I am asking all of my readers who were misled by the university to send the following letter to the provided address:

Vice Chancellor Pat Leonard
Alderman Hall
UNC-Wilmington
Wilmington, NC, 28403

Vice Chancellor Leonard: Continued...