As academic workers at UNC, we strongly condemn the unjust decision to place Dwayne Dixon on administrative leave without pay. Following a targeted Fox News story and incendiary tweets calling for his removal, this university has bowed to outside pressure and targeted Professor Dwayne Dixon, without any alleged misconduct and apparently due to his personal beliefs. This is not the first time the University has targeted political expression, and it will not be the last unless we organize and protect each other. As with all forms of labor, employees at UNC deserve guaranteed protections, safety, and solidarity. 

UNC Chapel Hill has actively targeted one of their own professors, and created what is frankly a crisis of labor where over 250 students suddenly do not have an instructor. By placing a professor on administrative leave, UNC Chapel Hill is doing the far right’s dirty work and putting all students and employees at risk. UNC Chapel Hill’s message is clear: if a non-governmental organization even so much as tweets, they will listen and act, seemingly without question. We ask all UNC students, graduate workers, staff, and faculty to stand against this blatant attack on worker freedoms and speech.

In Solidarity, 

The Executive Board of the Graduate Workers Union 

We end with Professor Dwayne Dixon’s own statement on the matter: 

The administration's decision to suspend me has implications for everyone on campus. This is not about a single person; it is an issue that affects all of us. This rally is a powerful community demonstration of our shared desire for a better world. In solidarity and love, we struggle together to preserve our liberties.  

-Dwayne Dixon