■ UCF investigates professor’s tweets called out as racist,

Social media campaign seeks firing; university investigating incidents

UCF said Thursday it is reviewing Twitter posts by one of its psychology professors after students and alumni began calling him out for what they called racist tweets that made him unfit to teach at the public university.

Charles Negy, an associate professor in the psychology department, is the author of a book titled “White Shaming” and is now the subject of a Twitter campaign, #UCFfirehim.

Negy is a prolific tweeter who others on Twitter have called racist before the current controversy, which erupted as protests over the death of George Floyd have roiled the country. Floyd was the black man who died after a white Minneapolis officer kept his knee on his neck for more than 8 minutes.

Negy’s more recent controversial tweets included one this week that read, “Sincere question: If Afr. Americans as a group, had the same behavioral profile as Asian Americans (on average, performing the best academically, having the highest income, committing the lowest crime, etc.), would we still be proclaiming “systematic racism” exists?”

The University of Central Florida responded Thursday morning with a tweet of its own. “Being actively anti-racist means calling out and confronting racist comments. We are aware of Charles Negy’s recent personal Twitter posts, which are completely counter to UCF’s values. We are reviewing this matter further while being mindful of the First Amendment.”

Later in the day, UCF’s president and interim provost took part in an online “town hall” meeting with students. They hadn’t scheduled the event to address Negy’s tweets, but they did, calling the professor’s comments “racist, “offensive” and “vile” and said it was adding to the community’s sense of hurt, according to a transcript of the meeting.

“It is shameful to add to the anguish that so many feel today,” interim Provost Michael Johnson said.

President Alexander Cartwright told students that Negy’s speech was protected but said that “our faculty cannot and must not allow that speech to translate into discrimination in the classroom or on campus.”

He added, “If we find evidence of this behavior, we will take action” and urged anyone with “personal experiences of discrimination on campus” to share their stories.

Negy, in an email, said he knows he espouses unpopular and controversial views, but he has a constitutional right to express them, just as others have a right to challenge them.

“That’s the potential beauty of it,” he wrote.

“The timing of my controversial views that have been posted on twitter was poor, perhaps, but my views were not addressing the sadistic murder of George Floyd. I’m addressing other issues that I think ought to be discussed if we’re ever going to make progress on race relations,” he said.

Negy has worked at UCF since 1998, according to his curriculum vitae, and has a PhD from Texas A&M University. He was granted tenure in 2001, the document says.

He said Thursday that he did not know if UCF had started an formal investigation against him but he expects that administrators will — but that it won’t change his status with the university. They know “that despite how unpopular some of my views are with some folks, they must actively protect the U.S. Constitution’s free speech,” he wrote.

In 2012, Negy also made national news when in an email he called out Christian students for what he called “religious arrogance and bigotry” displayed in class, according to Inside Higher Education, a national publication.

That incident was looked into, he said, but he continued on as a UCF professor.

The collective bargaining agreement between United Faculty of Florida, a statewide union, and the UCF board of trustees grants faculty explicit “academic freedom” rights, which it calls “essential” to a university.

“As individuals, employees are free to express their opinions to the larger community on any matter of social, political, economic, or other public interest, without institutional discipline or restraint due to the content of those messages,” it reads.

On Twitter, many students, alumni and parents urged the university to sever its ties with Negy.

“A professor like Negy should not be employed and does not represent the university we all grew to love. #UCFfirehim,” read one.

“As a UCF student, I am NOT and NEVER will be okay with having a professor like this walking on our campus. UCF is an extremely diverse school and has absolutely no place for racist faculty like him,” tweeted another.

That student cited a tweet by Negy that said, “The State has Failed Black People. Yeah, it’s not like black people have any agency of their own, to stay in school, be the best student, abstain from crime, gangs, unwanted pregnancies, etc. It’s all the ‘state’s fault’.”

With thousands of people in Central Florida and across the country protesting Floyd’s death, Cartwright on Monday tweeted “we do not tolerate hate speech and must be unequivocally anti-racist in our words, actions and online behavior. Whenever we find discrimination in our community, we till take decisive action to stamp it out.”

Several of those calling for Negy’s dismissal cited Cartwright’s statement, urging UCF to live up to its promise. “For a university who just pledged they would fight against racism and injustice, this is not a good look for them,” read one.

In the town hall, Johnson told students that anyone who had experienced “racist, intolerant or demeaning behavior in any faculty member’s classroom” should report it through UCF’s Integrity Line.

“We want to know about it so that we may investigate and deal with it,” he added.

Negy’s posts on Twitter often touched on racial issues and sometimes angered readers.

“An administrator told me today that someone contacted the university and told them to investigate my twitter account to see all the unacceptable things I say. The response: they support free speech(!) Kudos to the University of Central Florida :)” Negy tweeted in January.

In his email Thursday, Negy said, “I am pro-Black, pro-Hispanic, pro-Asian, AND pro-White. The lives of black people matter as much as the lives of anyone else in this country. This country belongs to everyone here. That does not mean I must endorse what I perceive as misguided and even draconian tactics of certain political organizations, such as BLM,” he added, using the initials of the Black Lives Matter movement.