Members of UCF’s football team are calling on UCF’s leadership to take action and fire associate psychology professor Charles Negy.
UCF senior running back Greg McCrae took social media Wednesday to express he does not condone Negy’s comments.
“A psychology teacher who is teaching his own ways and views about the way the world is and only his point of view is very manipulative. Brainwashing,” McCrae said in a tweet.
Negy’s controversial tweets that claim black privilege exists prompted the UCF community to call for his firing with the Twitter hashtags #UCFireHim and #UCFFireHim in early June.
Knight News confirmed with UCF spokesman Mark Schlueb the investigation into Negy is ongoing.
UCF interim Provost Michael Johnson said during the student-organized protests against the professor on June 14 that the university is actively looking into all complaints made against Negy. Johnson said Negy is teaching and is paid during this investigation.
UCF senior running back Otis Anderson Jr. joined McCrae and voiced his opinions in a series of tweets.
Junior defensive lineman Randy Charlton also retweeted McCrae’s post.
Team members used other platforms to amplify McCrae’s message.
Quarterback McKenzie Milton shared McCrae’s post to his Instagram story and said he stands by McCrae, and said that Negy’s Twitter posts do not represent what UCF stands for.
UCF alumni also used social media to show support for McCrae’s comments.
During a virtual forum on June 4, students asked UCF President Alexander Cartwright how he planned to fire Negy over the Twitter posts the students considered “dishonorable comments toward the black community.”
Cartwright said during the livestream there are systems in place the university will use to investigate Negy.
“When you look at a faculty member’s behavior, you need to consider whether that behavior is personal and whether it translates into their behavior in the classroom,” Cartwright said. “We will look at any such behavior and we will, after careful deliberation, come to a decision.”
On June 11, the Legislative Branch of UCF’s Student Government passed a resolution — an opinion advocating on behalf of the student body — calling for Negy to be fired.
The resolution states Negy’s comments perpetuate systemic racism and encourage discrimination and negative views toward the marginalized communities in which UCF educates and employs.
UCF’s Office of Institutional Equity is conducting the investigation into allegations of bias and unfair treatment in Negy’s classroom.
“The one thing I am confident that we can do, before we understand whether more is possible, is to make sure nobody has to take his class,” Johnson said during the protest against Negy at UCF’s main campus on June 14. “[We can make sure] there are good alternatives.”
While OIE investigates, the psychology department created a second section of a summer session sexual behavior course — with a different professor — so no student was forced to take Negy as a professor.
The psychology department said in the email it will be monitoring Negy’s section of the sexual behavior course to discourage any inappropriate conduct from occurring.
UCF said in a news release that no employee may mistreat or discriminate against students in their classes or in any other setting, and no student should fear they will be treated differently because of others’ personal biases.
“We have been receiving complaints alleging bias and unfair treatment in Dr. Negy’s classroom and have launched an inquiry to gather more information,” the statement reads.
The university encourages members of the community to report concerns to UCF’s IntegrityLine, which also takes anonymous complaints, at www.ucfintegrityline.com or 855-877-6049.
This is a developing story.
Check back with Knight News for updates.
