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Email from John C. Cavanaugh

From: Cavanaugh, John C.
Subject: UNC-Wilmington Invades Professor's Privacy

Dear _______,

I am writing in response to your email.

Contrary to some reports, Dr. Adams was never investigated, threatened, or
sanctioned for saying anything by this administration. In fact, the
administration on three occasions refused to grant a request filed to us
under the Public Records Law of North Carolina seeking blanket access to his
correspondence. We asked for and received the support of the Attorney
General of North Carolina in denying access to Dr. Adams' records to the
complainant. We gave our full support for Dr. Adams' right to speak freely
on any issue, a point he acknowledged on national television (the Hannity
and Colmes show). Even after we were forced to respond to a narrowly framed
request for certain records, we did not turn over any records to the
requestor because none were relevant. The bottom line is that Dr. Adams has
not ever been stifled by this administration, a point he has publicly
acknowledged. I and others in the administration have been quite vocal in
our support of faculty members' rights to speak open and freely in support
of whatever position they choose.

Given this administration's public defense of free speech and our repeated
willingness to deny access to faculty members' correspondence to the extent
allowed by law on the grounds of privacy, I believe you have been misled by
shoddy journalistic reporting by individuals who did not ever check
firsthand sources.

John C. Cavanaugh, Ph.D.
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
University of North Carolina at Wilmington
111 Alderman Hall
601 S. College Road
Wilmington, NC 38403-5900

Voice: 910.962.3389

Fax: 910.962.3922
Email: cavanaugh@uncw.edu