Rachel Keith: Samantha, a lot happened last fall where I had to go back and revisit the timeline through WHQR’s past reporting. It essentially started with tensions that erupted between students on campus in the aftermath of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk’s murder.
Samantha Hill: That’s right, we had student groups clashing over the campus’s spirit rocks, that’s where students can paint various slogans and images on two large rocks on campus.
RK: And then the situation escalated further — someone with the user name BrendanJones04 posted on X that a NC militia group was coming to campus that week to “take care of the problem” with about over 20 people on campus, the inference was that these were liberal people. In your article, you mention speaking with UNCW Police Chief Frank Brinkley to find out who 'BrendanJones04' really was.
SH: Yes, Chief Brinkley said his office was “starting to investigate, trace and figure out who the person was.” And just a reminder for the public, UNCW has its own campus police — not affiliated with Wilmington police or the county’s sheriff’s office.
RK: So that was concerning enough — but later that evening, local, state, and federal law enforcement swarmed campus for about 3 hours trying to find a gunman — and it turned out to be a hoax online.
SH: Yes, so I spoke with Dr. Christine Reed Davis, UNCW’s Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, about this, and she said that UNCW police have “developed ways to investigate false threats and inform the public faster.” And UNCW is supposedly working on an after-action report — a review of documents, interviews with staff and faculty, and the community about how UNCW handled the hoax gunman — and hoax bomb threats, which have happened in the recent past, too.
RK: But the public can’t see that report just yet, correct?
SH: Yes, but a UNCW spokesperson said the report should be published before the end of the academic year — she added that they’re in the process of reviewing that draft report and what the university can do to move forward from those recommendations.
RK: But in the meantime, Chief Brinkley said to you about the fall hoax incident that “fact-checking is difficult” when you’re looking at online posts.
SH: Yes, he told me that you want to trust your peers and what people are seeing with what they're posting online — but “sometimes it’s hard to trust what you’re seeing these days. Just pause, and take a minute,” basically insinuating to wait to confirm what’s going on is what’s really happening with official sources.
RK: Through that hoax gunman experience, we in the media, along with law enforcement, were all confused. This felt like a real threat the campus was experiencing, and in some ways it was — law enforcement was running around with guns, students who saw this, and the public who saw those videos felt real fear.
SH: Yes, I believed that there was a gunman on campus after viewing posts on social media of the suspected location in the East Parking Deck and authorities swarming the campus.
RK: Going back to UNCW’s spirit rock, what did Reed Davis tell you about the rules around that?
SH: She said UNCW adjusted some of the policies around reserving the rock — and said they were “positive outcomes” like adding an official start and end time when decorating it.
RK: You also put criticisms to UNCW officials about the trend around fostering conservative thought and events recently — the Charlie Kirk Vigil hosted by Turning Point USA and the College Republican Chapters, and then the most recent visit of former Vice President Mike Pence as part of the chancellor’s ‘Dare to Learn’ lecture series. The two before and after Pence were wealthy conservatives– their own trustee, Dr. Aldona Wos, and High Point University President Dr. Nido Qubein.
SH: Reed Davis told me that their “Seahawk Respect Compact” states, “We foster an environment of respect for each individual, even where differences exist, by eliminating prejudice and discrimination through education and interaction with others,” — that this is aspirational and not a policy that people can be held in violation of.
RK: Reed Davis also talked to you about gathering areas in case future campus protests should arise.
SH: Yes, she said that she would make a “game plan” about where a protest area would be, but it would be “near, but not directly next to the event.”
RK: You also spoke to UNCW’s general counsel, John Scherer, about this.
SH: Yes, he said that the university can control the “time, place and manner” over student protests and where students, in general, express themselves on campus and he added that, “Anytime that students want to engage in a free expression event, we want to make sure that the event or activity can get all the support it can get from student affairs and campus life.”
Read more from The Seahawk, "UNCW campus safety after Fall 2025 semester, an update"
