The events that took place on UNCW’s campus in the Fall 2025 semester left students feeling on edge and concerned about their safety on campus. Recent incidents — including the spirit rock being “defaced,” two bomb threats, online social media threats and the “false alarm” gunman on campus — has raised questions about how the university is protecting student safety.
In an interview with UNCW Police Chief Frank Brinkley, he describes some of the safety precautions that were and are still taking place on UNCW’s campus in states of emergency such as those in the Fall 2025 semester. He describes how the events from the fall have multiple possible solutions that stem from UNCW Police, Information Technology Services (ITS) and the Office of University Relations (OUR) on campus.
“A lot of those solutions we are looking to make sure that we understand the problem and we are developing the right solutions,” said Brinkley.
“UNCW Police along with local, state and federal partners worked swiftly to conduct a full investigation, and determined there is no credible threat to campus,” from UNCW Office of University Relations (OUR), released Sept. 18, 2025.
Misinformation & Threats Online
Social media rumors and online threats spread like wildfires, especially in the case of gunmen and threats of violence. OUR writes in their message regarding social media threats to Military Partners, “Unfortunately, rumors often spread faster than the truth on social media. Please help UNCW protect our campus and the community from misinformation by being savvy social media consumers. Before reposting or reacting, verify the information with credible sources.”
Regarding online threats, specifically from the X user @BrendanJones04, Brinkley states, “I do want to reassure you that we were on that right away. We did get reports about that early and we were starting to investigate, trace and figure out who the person was,” said Brinkley. This X post is no longer available for viewing as it has been found to violate X guidelines.
Snapchat stories and YikYak, a popular anonymous discussion forum app used by college students, were two of the main platforms where UNCW students were sourcing information about the threats that were happening on campus. With the initial post of the gunman being on a Snapchat story, at a quick glance, it resembled the East parking deck on UNCW campus. Brinkley discusses how UNCW officers are highly familiar with the locations on campus as they patrol the area thoroughly for student and campus safety.
“The fact checking, it’s difficult,” said Brinkley. “I know you want to trust your peers and what people are seeing and sometimes it’s hard to trust what you’re seeing these days.”
“Just pause, and take a minute,” said Brinkley.
Student’s Freedom of Speech and Expression: Are students protected?
Free speech and expression at UNCW is promising a campus culture “reflective of our values of diversity and globalization, ethics and integrity and excellence and innovation.” This mission ties into The Seahawk Respect Compact, in which the UNCW campus “fosters, encourages and promotes inclusiveness, mutual respect, acceptance and open-mindedness among students, faculty, staff and the broader community.”
John P. Scherer II serves as General Counsel at UNCW, specializing in employment law, civil rights law, constitutional law and issues in human relations and student affairs.
“Freedom of expression is baked in our DNA,” said Scherer. He discusses how UNCW is a public institution, therefore the campus is subjected to state and federal law, particularly the federal law. “Safety is paramount for our campus. We want folks to get the education they need in a safe manner.”
“We have looked at our policies related to freedom of expression,” said Christina Reed Davis, vice chancellor of student affairs at UNCW. “We have adjusted some of those policies around how people can reserve the rock.” Davis states that there have been positive outcomes of adjusting the policies around the rock, such as the official start and end time to paint on the rock. A reservation must take place prior to painting on the rock.
Davis is collaborating with members of campus life, police and public safety, general counsel’s office, as well as space management and planning around what UNCW’s process and protocols related to demonstration and free expression look like.
University officials said some of the incidents originated from individuals unaffiliated with the university, including online and social media threats. Following the Charlie Kirk Vigil hosted by Turning Point USA and College Republican Chapters and a visit from former Vice President Mike Pence, some students and community members raised concerns about how differing viewpoints expressed on campus.
From the Seahawk Respect Compact, “We foster an environment of respect for each individual, even where differences exist, by eliminating prejudice and discrimination through education and interaction with others.”
“I want to remind everybody that the Seahawk respect compact is an aspirational document, not a policy that people can be held in violation of,” said Davis. “The primary audience of the respect compact are faculty, staff and students because they are the UNCW community. The aspiration does apply to visitors, but again, it is not a policy.”
“We gather together and make a game plan about where a protest area will be, how are we going to support the event from a freedom of expression perspective, since we’re a public institution, and how we’re also going to allow alternative expression in a location that is near, but not directly next to the event,” said Davis.
“Our overall mission is education. The university can control the time, place and manner,” said Scherer. “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 for student affairs and campus life,” said Scherer.
For more information, visit the Freedom of Expression UNCW website.
Moving on in the Future
As the political climate changes, UNCW students have rights to safely practice their use of free speech and expression on campus. In the Seahawk Respect Compact, UNCW states, “We promote the right of every person to participate in the free exchange of thoughts and opinions within a climate of civility and mutual respect.” Students can actively express their concerns while following the UNCW policy and legal stipulations. There have been instances of expression on UNCW campus, such as the BSU DEI protest and protest during the Razor Walker Awards ceremony. However, the Fall 2025 semester has opened the discussion about moving forward in the future with student safety.
Students can actively participate and exercise their First Amendment rights while following UNCW Freedom of Expression policies. Scherer speaks about how it is important for students to brush up on their rights and to freely express themselves. For more information and frequently asked questions of what is and is not prohibited at UNCW, visit UNCW Freedom of Expression here.
“In the meantime, we’ve identified things that we know are solid solutions; solid things that we needed to work on,” said Brinkley. “Our modern era issues, like the swatting calls and essentially hoax calls that we were getting about bombs. How can we detect those and determine their hoax faster?”
Brinkley adds that because of these events, the UNCW police department and local authorities have developed ways to investigate false threats and inform the public faster.
UNCW voluntarily requested an after action report to review documents, talk with staff and faculty, executive team leaders, and some community members about the actions that UNCW took after the events of Fall 2025 semester.
A request for the After Action report has been made but should be published before the end of the academic year.
“We are in the process of reviewing the draft of that report, and we will look at what we can do to move forward from those recommendations,” said Davis.
From an email on the behalf of University Police Department and Human Resources on March 18, they have provided online training videos for both students and employees of an overview of critical safety steps that students and staff should take. Read more about the UNCW’s Active Attacker Preparedness here.
To file a report with the UNCW Police Department, please visit this website. If you feel as if your life or others are in danger, please call 9-1-1.
