dway@heraldsun.com; 918-1035
CHAPEL HILL -- The UNC professor forced out of his role as faculty adviser to a conservative cultural values group that has stirred angry protests and intimidation tactics by far-left organizations said he was surprised by Chancellor Holden Thorp's request for his resignation.
"I think the chancellor has overreacted, but I'm not going to criticize the chancellor for this," said Elliot Cramer, emeritus professor of psychology who was adviser to Youth for Western Civilization.
I don't feel any ill will towards him," Cramer said. "If the chancellor doesn't want me to continue, I shouldn't continue."
The sudden turn of events -- Cramer was in the advisory role for less than a week -- occurred after he sent an e-mail shortly after midnight Thursday boasting about his marksmanship skills. He termed it a joking response to a pair of fliers being circulated with his photograph and home address and inferences that he may be a racist.
"Cramer's endorsement of YWC is misguided at best, and racist collaboration at worst," one flier stated. The other flier stated it is "possible that Cramer does understand the role he is playing in supporting racism, and doesn't care."
The fliers were brought to Cramer's attention by Nikhil Patel, president of Youth for Western Civilization's UNC chapter, in an e-mail with the subject line "possible danger."
"I'm not entirely sure how to go about this problem, but it seems like an indirect threat to your safety," Patel wrote to Cramer.
"Thanks for your concern," Cramer responded to Patel, copying Thorp on the e-mail. "I have a Colt 45 and I know how to use it. I used to be able to hit a quarter at 50 feet 7 times out of 10."
"This email is highly inappropriate," Thorp wrote back. "It is certainly not consistent with the civil discourse we are trying to promote."
The university put out a statement from Thorp later Friday addressing the matter.
"Professor Emeritus Elliot Cramer has been retired from the University for 15 years," Thorp said in the statement. "When the Youth for Western Civilization, a campus student group, needed an adviser, he agreed to serve. Today, he sent an e-mail that was highly inappropriate and not consistent with the civil discourse we are trying to achieve. I asked him to step down from his role as adviser, and he will do so."
"It certainly wasn't a serious thing, because I didn't take the thing seriously," Cramer said. And he attempted to relay that to Thorp.
"We had a very brief conversation. He said he believed that Haley [Koch] or these other people would use it against me or the university," Cramer said. "I can understand that the chancellor is concerned."
Koch is a Morehead-Cain Scholar at UNC who has been active in protests against speakers brought to campus by Youth for Western Civilization. The student protesters, many of whom were affiliated with the leftist Students for a Democratic Society, broke a window and shut down remarks by former Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo in April with a hail of loud, profanity-filled shouts. Koch was charged in that protest but won dismissal of the charges last week in District Court. More students were arrested at a subsequent speech by former Congressman Virgil Goode.
"This is really a scurrilous thing here," Cramer said of the tactics used by Koch and her fellow activists. "She told me the university is racist" during a sit-down conversation the two had recently.
Despite claims made against him, "I do not support white supremacy, and this group [Youth for Western Civilization] does not support white supremacy," he said.
"I'm a member of the ACLU. I consider myself a liberal. I strongly defend free speech," Cramer said.
"These people [Koch and Students for a Democratic Society] are fascists," he said. "I'm just appalled at all this. I am concerned about this intimidation."
Nikhil Patel, a senior from Huntersville majoring in biology, is president of Youth for Western Civilization. He defended the group and Cramer.
"The group is a cultural one, not a racial one," said Patel, who described himself as a "very dark-skinned" Indian American. "I think this visceral reaction that western culture automatically means white" is racist in itself.
"As for Dr. Cramer stepping down, I wasn't too thrilled about it," he said. "I think he shouldn't have. I think his comment, his joke, was blown out of proportion."
Patel believes the university needs to respond to what he perceives to be menacing actions by the protesters.
"Last year people were telling Riley [Matheson] that they knew where he lived, and he got a few threats," Patel said of the former Youth for Western Civilization chapter president.
