Students at the University of Georgia held a “march against Nazis” on Jan. 15 protesting a university employee who has ties to the Aryan Freedom Network, a neo-Nazi group.
About 50 UGA students marched from Tate Plaza to the UGA Arch carrying signs urging the university to have “zero tolerance” for fascism and stating that “the workplace is no space for Nazis.”
Last October, George Haynie allowed the Aryan Freedom Network to hold its annual “Aryan Fest” on his property in Lexington, as uncovered by the Atlanta Antifascists group. When students filed complaints with the UGA Equal Opportunity Office, the university placed Haynie on administrative leave. He was allowed to return to work on Dec. 18 after an investigation found no evidence that he had violated university policy.
The UGA College of Engineering, where Haynie works as a machine shop manager, released a statement saying that “as a state institution subject to Board of Regents policy and the First Amendment, the University of Georgia cannot discipline employees for personal, off-campus expressive activity, no matter how offensive or repugnant those activities may be.”
Nevertheless, protest attendees often called on Haynie to be fired during the march, chanting, “No hate! No fear! Get George Haynie out of here!”
Graham Fenn, a senior engineering student who spoke at the protest, accused his institution of being “complacent” to the threat that fascism poses to the UGA campus. “The rationale for [allowing Haynie to return to work] cited the non-discrimination and anti-harassment policies at UGA,” Fenn said. “While many of us benefit from these protections, those in charge of enforcing these policies seem to forget that hate, fearmongering and violence are not ideologies and identities that need protecting, but infections in our society that need to be cured.”
Other speakers at the protest took a different tone. Tom Sheehan, a member of the United Campus Workers of Georgia, told protest attendees that freedom of expression is extremely important to UGA staff and faculty.
“As union members, we’re aware of how universities have historically and currently weaponized restrictions on expressive speech against academic workers, from McCarthyism in the 1950s to the integration movement in the 1960s to pro-Palestinian activism on campuses today,” Sheehan said. “We expect that the university will also grant the same protections extended to Mr. Haynie to all faculty, staff and student workers who speak out and take action against bigotry and white supremacy.”
Protest organizer Jacob Harris told Flagpole that while he would like to see Haynie fired, that wasn’t the purpose of the protest. “The goal of this protest was to simply spread awareness about Haynie and to unify students at UGA to show intolerance towards him. I understand that UGA as an institution may not be able to fire him just because of the legal implications,” Harris said.
According to UGA policy, no UGA employee can be fired for off-campus expressive activity which is protected under the First Amendment. On the other hand, behavior like making bigoted remarks in the workplace or contributing to a hostile working environment is potentially actionable by the university.
“If you are a university worker and you feel unsafe in your workplace, or targeted because of who you are, we want to hear about it,” Sheehan said during his speech. “We are here to support you.”
Currently, there is no evidence that Haynie has ever openly expressed racist or antisemitic opinions in the workplace. The statement from the College of Engineering said he was warned that expressing such views on the job could violate UGA’s nondiscrimination and anti-harassment policy.
Haynie did not respond to a request for comment.
Harris, a freshman who has never been involved in activism before, was the lead organizer of the protest. The Party for Socialism and Liberation, Young Democratic Socialists of America, the United Campus Workers of Georgia and Lefty Jews of Athens were also involved in organizing or supporting the event.
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