By about 2 p.m. on Wednesday, UNC professor Dwayne Dixon would be back in front of his ASIA 150 class for instruction like normal. But a few hours before that, he was still addressing the abnormal circumstances surrounding him from being put onto administrative leave the prior week.
Dixon, members of the American Association of University Professor and other supporters gathered at the steps of South Building on Wednesday morning for a press conference promoting both free speech and academic freedom, while criticizing UNC leadership’s handling of an investigation into a Fox News report claiming Dixon’s ties to a community defense group called Redneck Revolt were connected to politically-motivated violence. The organization, which disbanded in 2019, was branded as a collective of gun advocates who pushed back against racist and fascist actions.
From left to right: UNC professor Dwayne Dixon stands with North Carolina AAUP President Belle Boggs, ACLU of North Carolina Deputy Legal Director Dan Siegel, and President of UNC’s AAUP chapter Michael Palm outside South Building on Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025. (Photo by Brighton McConnell/Chapel Hill Media Group.)
UNC put Dixon on leave last Monday, saying doing so would protect the “integrity” of its assessment of available details. The move drew opposition from supporters of Dixon’s on-campus work and off-campus activism, culminating in a rally at South Building one week prior and a pair of petitions with hundreds of signatures asking for his reinstatement. The university completed its investigation to find “no basis” to claims of violence, and reinstated the Asia and Middle Eastern Studies professor on Friday.
But both Dixon and his supporters saw the university’s actions as more capitulating to calls from political bad actors and an infringement on his First Amendment rights. Standing on the steps of South Building Wednesday morning, Dixon called the university administration’s handling of his case “very regrettable and embarrassing” while saying it is an example of “how imperiled our right to free and unfettered speech is.” He referenced how the Fox News story pulled from interviews and events up to eight years ago — including when Dixon attended the “Unite The Right” rally in Charlottesville as an armed protestor against the white supremacists — and said he believes it is nearly impossible for the administration to not have already known about his stances on issues.
“Safety is certainly a concern,” Dixon said. “I make the safety and wellbeing of my students my primary focus, always, and I’m constantly vigilant on their behalf. However, to claim that I am a safety risk — eight years after my actions in Charlottesville and in the streets of Durham — indicates either incompetency or mendacity… Thus, I can only conclude that it was the content of my speech and political beliefs that caused the chancellor to act with such ill-considered haste.
“I am here today,” he continued, “to defend our collective right to free speech, even speech and ideas that I disagree with, so as to fulfill our responsibility to our students and to one another in the strengthening in our ethics and commitment to a free society. We are all here to stand courageously in the heat of this moment, not just for ourselves, but for every scholar and every student on the campus and beyond. And we stand here to serve as a testament that these beliefs remain strong despite the poor example set by our chancellor.”
Dixon confirmed he learned about his leave and investigation from a message by Interim Provost James Dean Jr., but was not contacted directly by any UNC leaders about the decision or to discuss their reasoning — nor heard from them since being reinstated. Because of that lack of communication, the professor said he was surprised by UNC’s swift response amid tenuous connections made within the Fox News story. He said upon receiving the letter from Dean, Dixon said he had “the utmost confidence the situation would be resolved quickly” in part from a lack of evidence over any politically-motivated violence in his past — but from the believed illegality of the university’s actions. The ACLU of North Carolina penned a letter to UNC on Oct. 2 saying it was prepared to represent Dixon in a lawsuit over his First Amendment rights and the “unconstitutional” requirements of his leave, which included not being in any form of contact with “any current or former employees or students.”
Both Dixon and his colleague Michael Palm, the president of UNC’s chapter of the AAUP, brought up examples of conservative-leaning and far-right groups attempting to agitate and harass Dixon over his anti-fascist views. Palm pointed out how Turning Point USA members — the nonprofit founded by Charlie Kirk, which provided the genesis to the Fox News story by sharing flyers from Georgetown University’s campus — showed up on campus to provoke a confrontation with Dixon in 2018. Palm said when UNC administrators were made aware of the incident, they did nothing to protect Dixon’s rights or to ensure his safety. Dixon was also added to the group’s “Professor Watchlist” website, which highlights faculty members at universities who share progressive or far-left views different from the conservative nonprofit.
“Seven years later, Turning Point USA is still targeting Professor Dixon,” said Palm, “and their finger-pointing is apparently all it took for UNC administrators to have him placed on administrative leave last week. I know of no more tireless or courageous fighter for our individual rights and for our collective safety than Dwayne Dixon. There’s a reason Turning Point USA keeps targeting him: because he has, for years, been out front fighting for our rights and to ensure our safety. Fighting against racism, against transphobia, against authoritarianism, against fascism. In other words, unlike [UNC Chancellor] Lee Roberts, Dwayne doesn’t stand around and watch when members of his community are under attack.”
“I have experienced firsthand the dangers we all face from these fascist and racist ideologies,” concluded Dixon. “I will never retreat, nor recant my position, and I will use my free speech rights to continue to name and refuse fascism and white supremacy. I am proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with my colleagues here and faculty and students across this community who share these beliefs with me.”
Dixon punctuated his prepared remarks by saying, “Free Palestine.”
UNC Media Relations declined to comment on Wednesday about Dixon’s return to teaching on campus, but said in its statement about his reinstatement on Friday that it “continues to reaffirm its commitment to rigorous debate, respectful engagement, and open dialogue in support of free speech, while fulfilling our responsibility to protect the physical safety of the Carolina community.”
Once the press conference ended, Dixon began to greet the gathered supporters — some of whom were students in his classes for the semester.
“It’s going to be so good to be back,” he said. “I’ve graded a bunch of papers that I wasn’t able to access last week… so, I feel finally caught up on work and we have really important things to cover this week in both of my classes. I’m going to be overjoyed to see them.”
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