******* Update******* 2:23 p.m.
The UAB Faculty Senate Executive Committee has released a statement that addressed racism on campus.
“As a faculty, we fully contend that any speech that marginalizes members of our diverse community is inconsistent with UAB’s core values of diversity and inclusion,” the statement said. “Therefore, we reject all forms of racism, xenophobia, and sexism–as well as bigotry in all of its forms.”
Full statement can be found below
Faculty_Senate_Executive_Committee_Statement_Diversity.pdf
*******Update******* 11.21 a.m.
At 10:24 a.m., an email blast was sent to the entire university addressing white supremacy on campus.
“We want to assure you that UAB is against racism, white supremacy, discrimination and hate in all its forms,” in a statement sent out to all students and faculty. “The thoughts expressed by such groups and in such posts are not shared by the institution and do not align with our values.
The statement also said UAB has followed policies, procedures, state and federal laws and “recognizes constitutionally protected free speech.”
The university will also be hosting multiple events this semester as a part of a continuing series.
Full statement can be found here.
White nationalism spreads on campus
Kaleidoscope Staff Reports
Documents show the state leader of alt-right organization Identity Europa — recently re-branded as American Identity Movement — currently attends UAB.
Jeremiah McGuire, current computer science graduate student, has been identified as the Alabama state coordinator for Identity Evropa.
Identity Evropa is an American neo-Nazi and white supremacist organization established in 2016 according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Documents showing his involvement in recruiting and handling membership dues were made public earlier this year.
McGuire admitted to hanging recruitment posters across campus in 2018 on the discord chat for the organization that was leaked in 2018.
After gaining notoriety for organizing the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia that resulted in the 2017 death of Heather Heyer, Identity Evropa rebranded itself under the American Identity Movement moniker. The group is currently facing a lawsuit related to their role in the deadly rally.
In his role as state coordinator, McGuire was Identity Evropa’s most senior officer in Alabama, responsible for recruiting new members, coordinating membership and collecting payment for dues.
McGuire attended UAB as an undergraduate and graduated with a degree in finance in 2018, as well as earning a certification for the Business Research Toolkit Program during the Fall 2017 term. McGuire attended UAB on what he described as a “full ride” presidential scholarship while active in Identity Evropa.
McGuire has also taken credit for hanging recruitment posters around campus, as discovered by Kaleidoscope staff.
In the posts, McGuire said he prefers living in Birmingham because of the layout of the city.
“I can actually survive in Birmingham because of how strongly segregated the place is,” McGuire said.
After discord leaks earlier this year, McGuire’s username was linked to his legal name by the Kaleidoscope staff.
McGuire has expressed being okay living in areas that are not majority white, as discovered by the Kaleidoscope staff.
McGuire’s presentation titled “Just Following Orders: Authoritarianism and Ethical Decisions” was included in the Undergraduate Research Expo in spring of 2018.
Active in the Identity Evropa’s discord chat, McGuire posted his views on other parts of Birmingham.
“Ever been to Tuskegee?” McGuire said. “It’s bad. Selma? Bad. Birmingham? Bad. Any town where governance has been handed to blacks? Bad.”
McGuire has expressed his views on other minorities as well, as discovered by the Kaleidoscope staff.
McGuire said he donated monthly to the Alabama State Republican Party. McGuire also said he met with Terry Lathan, the chairwoman of the Alabama Republican Party and had the personal cell numbers of two GOP county chairs after visiting the AL GOP offices in Hoover on multiple occasions.
McGuire said “it’s just that easy” when speaking of his connections to the local Republican party.
NBC News reported last year that Identity Evropa is pushing its members to infiltrate Republican politics to move the party toward its agenda of banning non-white immigration.
When reached for comment, Communications Director for the ALGOP Jeannie Faherty told Kaleidoscope Lathan was not in town when McGuire claimed he met her.
“I just checked Chairman Lathan’s schedule for the date of those chat group posts, and she was not in Birmingham that day,” Faherty said. “She was in Mobile. We do note a onetime $15 on-line contribution in October 2018.”
Faherty also said state party website county party chairmen’s phone numbers are easily accessible on their website.
McGuire and Michael B. Williams, Ph.D. candidate in the department in biology and member of Identity Evropa have interacted several times in discord.
Williams and McGuire have interacted several times in the discord chat, as discovered by the Kaleidoscope staff.
UAB Administration has been aware of McGuire’s role in Identity Evropa since 2019 after receiving dozens of pages of Discord leaks where McGuire mentions living behind Rast Hall and posted pictures of himself in UAB cap and gown on the Green.
“While federal student privacy law prohibits us from commenting on certain details, we can and do address any situation if there is evidence that a policy or law has been broken by a member of the UAB community,” said Paulette Dilworth, Ph.D., UAB Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in a statement.
