He called it the ‘Wuhan virus.’ SC Republicans say Winthrop suppressed his free speech
Several key South Carolina Republicans criticized Winthrop University’s retraction of a dean’s opinion column at a board meeting Tuesday, arguing that administrators stifled free speech in order to suppress a conservative opinion.
Winthrop’s now-retired Dean of Library Services Mark Herring wrote a column, titled “The Wuhan Wilding,” detailing his reaction to the unfolding pandemic. Throughout the piece, he referred to the novel coronavirus as the “Wuhan virus,” which healthcare professionals have come out to deem as inappropriate, and at one point, Herring called the virus the “Kung flu.”
The column, which ran in Against the Grain (a library science journal) in May, was retracted soon after it was published, and days later, Winthrop scrubbed Herring’s piece from the university’s digital archive.
Winthrop’s provost Adrienne McCormick sent an email, obtained by The Herald, to faculty and staff, calling the column “ethnically offensive.”
“It is incumbent upon an academic institution to clarify when a member of the community makes statements that do not represent the university, at the same time that we recognize the equal weight of our commitments to academic freedom and inclusive excellence,” McCormick wrote.
In response, Herring, who retired at the end of June, said on Twitter that he was “censored” by the university.
“Apparently, my crime is saddling China with the origin of the virus,” he wrote. “Not all Chinese, just their government. Then, in response, my institution responded with the usual liberal claptrap about inclusion and diversity and ideologically distancing itself from my comments.”
And on Tuesday, Republicans U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman and S.C. Sen. Wes Climer got involved.
At the Board of the Trustees meeting, Norman called the university’s actions a “violation of our First Amendment right.”
“For (McCormick) to take down the writings of the professor because she disagreed with it, that violates the First Amendment and the board needed to know that,” Norman told The Herald after the meeting. “If the shoe were on the other foot and (McCormick) was done the same way by Dr. Herring, I would be here, too.”
Climer spearheaded the Republicans’ effort Tuesday, Norman said. Climer called on McMormick to issue a public apology for the “lousy treatment” of Herring, and asked the university to uphold “freedom of thought and expression.”
“This institution matters to me and it matters to this community,” Climer said. “And when I see it falling into disrepair, as is clearly the case with the mistreatment of Dr. Herring, I feel an obligation to speak up, not to condemn, but to encourage you, as the governing body of this institution, to hold the highest values of the institution.”
Herring stands by column
Herring stood by his writing Tuesday. He said that he was told several of his comments in the article “pointed to so-called casual racism,” but that he doesn’t consider himself a racist.
He defended the way in which he referenced the virus, claiming at the time it was common to call COVID-19 that.
“We’ve all heard how frequently that was part of the common conversation both then and now, and also how many diseases are still designated by their geographic names,” he said.
Herring accused McCormick of making “defaming and slanderous” comments. McCormick sent Herring a handwritten apology a few weeks ago, he said, but Herring called on her to issue a public one.
“You have my assurance that I will work to make sure we do better as a campus community to demonstrate our respect for divergent points of view,” McCormick wrote in the letter to Herring, which was obtained by The Herald.
Herring also made broader points about freedom of speech on Winthrop’s campus, saying that “the atmosphere for conservative thought is unwelcomed on this campus today.”
Winthrop board reacts
At the end of the discussion, without opposition, the board voted to implement its resolution to “affirm Winthrop’s commitment to freedom of speech.”
Interim President George Hynd said it’s informative to hear citizens, such as Norman and Climer, express their views to the board.
“We’ve certainly heard from concerned citizens today and we’ll take that under consideration and then, move forward,” Hynd told The Herald.
Brandon Jackson, president of Winthrop’s Council of Student Leaders, attended the meeting Tuesday and said he felt the way in which Herring referred to the virus is no longer appropriate, pointing out that in 2015, the World Health Organization issued updated practices to name new human infectious diseases.
WHO officials said disease names identified by (1) geographic locations, (2) people’s names, (3) animal species or (4) references to culture, population, industry or occupation should be avoided. Officials said names, such as “swine flu” and “Middle East Respiratory Syndrome” have stigmatized certain communities or economic sectors.
“Although at one point, naming viruses and diseases after geographic locations and indigenous people, it was acceptable,” Jackson said. “It’s not anymore.”
This story was originally published August 26, 2020 at 8:49 AM.
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