A right-leaning, student-run publication at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (UNC) had its website hacked and distribution boxes vandalized with derogatory comments.
On April 25, the Carolina Review had its newly installed magazine distribution boxes vandalized. The boxes had the letters “CR” imprinted on the side. A vandal used a black sharpie marker to write “Racist” using the “R” in “CR.”
via Carolina Review
A few hours after students noticed the vandalism, a hacker got onto the publication’s website and “destroyed” 15 years of online content. According to photos obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, the masthead portion of the website was deleted and replaced with derogatory comments about the publication’s Editor-in-Chief.
The new masthead displayed Editor-in-Chief Bryson Piscitelli’s name with the message “Nazi scum f**k off.”
via Carolina Review
According to the Free Beacon, among the deleted articles was one that uncovered that UNC professor Dwayne Dixon had taken part in the infamous 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville as a member of “an Antifa-style militant organization.”
Piscitelli told The Daily Wire that UNC has created a culture wherein right-leaning students are harassed for their views.
“Carolina Review is the only publication on campus openly willing to break with the culturally-left orthodoxy of the university’s student body, and some people here can be unhinged,” Piscitelli said. “We’ve had writers never submit again or resign because of intense personal pressure from classmates, roommates, even sorority sisters.”
According to the university, police are working with the Carolina Review to find the vandal and hacker.
UNC condemned the attacks in a statement on Twitter.
“Earlier this week, the Carolina Review’s website was hacked, its content vandalized, and vile language was left as digital graffiti. UNC condemns vandalism and rhetoric that discourages students from speaking freely on campus,” the university said. “UNC strives to foster an environment where everyone, regardless of identity, background, or perspective, can enjoy their right to free expression — especially our student press — and their sense of safety and belonging. UNC police are investigating this incident.”
Earlier this week, the @CarolinaReview’s website was hacked, its content vandalized, and vile language was left as digital graffiti. #UNC condemns vandalism and rhetoric that discourages students from speaking freely on campus. 1/2
— UNC-Chapel Hill (@UNC) April 30, 2021
Kevin Guskiewicz, the school’s chancellor, echoed the condemnation.
Despite the setbacks, Piscitelli said that the publication is growing exponentially.
“New writers are applying all the time. I think regular people are starting to get fed up with the insanity of woke culture,” Piscitelli said. “We’ll keep speaking truth to power no matter how much you try to intimidate us.”
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