A disclaimer before we start. I attended UNC Chapel Hill. And like Stuart, I grew up in Winston-Salem.
Right Wing conservatives have been aggressive about wanting to shape our education institutions for a long time. Walter Hussman Jr. isn’t alone in his effort. Nationally The Koch brothers have given money to numerous universities for years and almost always with some strings. Locally there are others. In North Carolina there is a guy named Art Pope.
Printed on the second page of each of the 10 daily newspapers that Carolina alumnus Walter Hussman Jr. and his family own are the core values that his publications adhere to: objectivity, impartiality, integrity and truth-seeking.
Walter Hussman and his newspapers lie every day they print what they call their core values in their newspaper. Walter Hussman Jr. showed none of those values with his involvement trying to influence how another foundation’s gift was received at UNC. Not one single action concerning Nikole Hannah-Jones that Hussman did fell under those “Core Values”. Either before his actions became public knowledge, nor since.
Walter Hussman Jr. made a big splash with the announcement of his pledge of $25 million dollars to UNC and specifically the School of Journalism. But it’s just that, a pledge. He hasn’t given $25 million yet.
So why put his name on the building before he’s given what he’s promised? IMHO, WGAF? Take his name off now. There was and is an ongoing campaign to remove white supremacist names off of buildings of not just UNC Chapel Hill, but on all of the campuses in the University of North Carolina System which include several HBCUs such as Winston-Salem State University, North Carolina A & T University in Greensboro and North Carolina Central University in Durham. Why put another man’s name on a building, who has demonstrated his bigotry through his actions and his words, shown himself to be just another white supremacist?
We don’t need to wait 50 to 100 years to remove Hussman’s name. UNC has another man who graduated from there who does represent the values Hussman’s newspapers claim, his name is Stuart Scott. If it’s also about money, then let’s reach out to a Michael Jordan (who has already given tons of money to UNC) to lead the way to replace any funds delivered or promised by Walter Hussman Jr.
By the way, the Knight Foundation has two vacant Chairs at UNC. The Knight Chair in Journalism and Digital Media Economics, University of North Carolina/Chapel Hill. And the Knight Chair in Race and Investigative Journalism, University of North Carolina/Chapel Hill.