Wake Forest graduate student in English, Tom Condon, reported he felt “harassed, stalked and unsafe” to Dean of Students Adam Goldstein after professors in the English department reported him as a threat to Wake Forest following a meeting with an alumni socialist activist.
Condon said that Goldstein dismissed his complaint and excused the actions of the student group due to President Trump’s election and the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, VA, and claimed that any actions against Condon only came from a “place of concern.”
The graduate student came forward after the publication of the Wake Forest Review article about a different conservative student being harassed on campus. This report indicates a second instance where a right-leaning student had legitimate concerns with harassment on campus from the left and felt that their complaints were not adequately investigated or taken seriously by the Dean of Students Office.
“While it would be inappropriate to comment about individual students, I can assure you that Wake Forest University takes concerns expressed by students seriously and evaluates them with great care,” Dean Goldstein said in a statement. “Student concerns are far more complicated than any one person’s ideology.”
“When conflict arises across the polarized political spectrum, individuals may be disappointed in how situations are resolved, but it does not mean that political bias influences the University’s process or decision-making,” said Goldstein. “When a review of allegations and other information provided to the University determines that policies detailed in the Code of Conduct were not violated and no threat to the campus community exists, there is nothing further to pursue.”
The incident began when Condon counter-protested a DACA rally and was verbally assaulted by members of the Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) chapter. He said that two students singled him out of the crowd and began to shout profanities and threats at him.
According to Condon, the Dean of Students later said that by counter-protesting and holding a sign silently at the DACA rally, he was not following in line with “Wake Forest tradition,” and that counter-protesting was “allowed for now,” but University policy may change in the future Code of Conduct. Condon also claimed that Goldstein said he was “lucky more did not happen to him,” when he counter-protested.
Condon, a member of Turning Point USA, said he attended some YDSA chapter meetings with other Turning Point members in an attempt to foster dialogue. He also happened to attend some lectures or poetry readings where YDSA members were present.
After English Graduate Program Director Omaar Hena met with alumnus Danny Timpona, who is a local socialist activist, professors from the English Department submitted a report to the CARE team, which is tasked with determining whether a student is a threat to themselves or others at the University. Both Hena and Timpona did not respond to requests for comment.
According to sources familiar with the matter, the report framed Condon as a far-right extremist whose political views threatened students on campus.
The CARE team members immediately assessed that Condon was not a threat and encouraged him to file a complaint with the Dean of Students office. He soon filed a complaint, which was later detailed in an email exchange between Condon, Student Conduct Administrator Nancy Pleban, and Dean Goldstein that was obtained by the Review.
“Conservative students deserve to be full participants at our university, and this can never be achieved in a climate which doesn’t acknowledge that their views are legitimate and deserve an equal platform.”
Condon felt that members of the YDSA group violated the school’s verbal abuse and harassment policies, as they took part in “nuisance actions that may prevent or distract others from their University studies” and engaged in behavior that “annoys or disturbs another person or that causes another person to be reasonably apprehensive.”
He also believed that the charge should be investigated as coming from the YDSA organization, as Group Code of Conduct violation policy states: “Members of a group act in concert, or the organization provides the impetus (probable cause) for violation of University rules and regulations.”
“These are radicals going after my academics because they had a grudge against me,” Condon said. “They were trying to tear apart my academic reputation, relationship with my professors, and maybe even my status as a student at Wake Forest.”
According to the Associate Dean of Students for Student Conduct Matt Clifford, the office follows a process outlined clearly in the future Code of Conduct, but not the current one. It appears that Condon’s complaint did not proceed past the initial review part of the conduct process, which you can read .
“Currently, campus events and institutions at Wake Forest are largely tailored towards left-wing conceptions of social justice and identity politics,” Condon said. “Meanwhile, events and speakers with genuine right-wing perspectives are scant, and some departments have near-complete ideological uniformity. Conservative students deserve to be full participants at our university, and this can never be achieved in a climate which doesn’t acknowledge that their views are legitimate and deserve an equal platform.”
