UNCW to pay Mike Adams $504,000 in retirement package

UNCW has reached a settlement amount with controversial professor Mike Adams, under fire for a host of scrutinized social media posts, who will retire Aug. 1. The move came after pressure from students, alumni faculty and others with a history of concern for Adams behavior.

According to a statement released Thursday by the university, Adams will be paid $504,702.76 for lost salary and retirement benefits, which was approved by the North Carolina Attorney General and the UNC Board of Governors.

UNCW agreed to pay the amount over five-year period with all payments coming from discretionary trust dollars -- savings from previous years -- and not state-budgeted funds.

“This resolution is less damaging to UNCW than leaving the situation unresolved,” Chancellor Jose Sartarelli wrote in an open letter. “In addition to saving money, the settlement will prevent the continued disruption to our educational mission, reduce concerns around campus safety, and lessen the harm to the institution. Dollars are precious, but our institutional integrity is priceless.”

Multiple change.org petitions had been created calling for the firing of Adams. One signature included a screen shot of a tweet made by Adams on May 29: “This evening I ate pizza and drank beer with six guys at a six seat table top. I almost felt like a free man who was not living in a slave state of North Carolina. Massa Cooper, let my people go.”

According to Satarelli’s statement, since Adams is a senior tenured faculty member, the university had three choices:

– Allow Adams to continue as a faculty member and accept the ongoing disruption to the university’s educational mission, the hurt and anger in the UNCW community, and the damage to the institution.

– Attempt to terminate Adams, and face drawn out, very costly litigation, and possibly lose, which was the case when Adams sued UNCW and won a First Amendment retaliation lawsuit in 2014. That legal process lasted seven years and cost the university roughly $700,000, $615,000 of which was for Adams’ attorneys’ fees. Losing a similar lawsuit today could cost even more.

– Negotiate a settlement when, as part of a conversation between Sartarelli and Adams, about his conduct and future at UNCW, the chancellor learned Adams was interested in retiring. Sartarelli said this approach allows UNCW to resolve the situation quickly, with certainty, and in the most fiscally responsible way.

Sartarelli said that UNCW will share an action plan later this month that outlines steps the institution will take to “ to honor and demonstrate the values of inclusivity, cultural awareness, equality, and transparency.”