Wilmington? Conservative? What?

One of my good friends has an internship in Washington DC this summer writing for The Daily Caller. She wrote this article.

http://dailycaller.com/2014/05/21/uncw-planning-to-appeal-ruling-in-favor-of-conservative-professor/

For the past seven years, Mike Adams, a UNC Wilmington Professor, has been battling the school and the law. He was accused of teaching his conservative views and was denied a promotion because of it. Adams felt that this was a violation of his freedom of speech and took it to court. The court ruled in Adams’ favor, ordering The University of North Carolina at Wilmington to pay Adams $50,000 in back pay, as well as his legal fees, which have added up to over $1 million in the time this case has taken place. UNC Wilmington appealed this ruling against the wishes of a few news corporations. Adams says this could be a bluff, and feels that his case will only gain strength with more time in court.

 Again, if this doesn’t scream government, I don’t know what does. Adams was shot down for preaching his political views and was brought into court for it. This was legal because even though Adams’ rights as a citizen guarantee him free speech, the promotion should have been decided on factors other than political views. If Adams’ truly wasn’t the best person for the new position he doesn’t have any grounds to be in court. Because of all the paperwork and red tape associated with court, the case took forever to be heard and have a ruling and resulted in a large bill that UNC Wilmington now has to pay. UNC Wilmington appealed, so the case could be heard again. Even if they lose the appeal, this case could potentially go to the Supreme Court. UNCW’s task now is to prove they didn’t violate Adams’ rights.

I think this case is unique in its conservativeness. So often we hear about liberals being loud in their views. However, I’m not surprised that this became an issue since college campuses do tend to be more liberal overall. I’m with Adams on this one. I believe that he was wrongly denied a promotion because he held views different from those who were giving promotions, and I’m sure that this is not the first time that this has happened. I hope that if the appeal is accepted the ruling is kept. This case not only stands for Adams, but for all of the others who were in his position. Conservative or Liberal, black or blue, people have the right to be successful if they’re good at what they do.

“It’s about malice. That’s the game.”