A retired professor from University of Georgia said that she was bullied on Twitter after criticizing the university’s announcement that they would be reviewing the names of all their buildings.
Catherine Sullivan reportedly commented on a tweet that the university posted saying they would “review and study the names of buildings and colleges on all campuses,” according to a conservative college publication, Campus Reform.
“I’m glad I have yet to write my yearly check to you!!!!! As a UGA Alumna, I am disgusted!!!” Sullivan reportedly tweeted.
Sullivan told the publication that her frustration over the university’s announcement has to do with her belief in preserving history.
“Plaques could be put up explaining the person’s life and history. Good and bad,” Sullivan told Campus Reform. “We need to know history or we are going to repeat the sins of the past.”
A Twitter account popped up that listed her home address in the bio section and also showed a pin drop of her home’s location coupled with Google street-view images.
“I hope you don’t feel uncomfortable in your house with your 2007 Honda Convertible,” the account posted, according to Campus Reform. That Twitter account has since been deleted.
“I was scared to death,” Sullivan told the publication.
Sullivan also found another Twitter profile that she described as a “troll account,” which responded to the University of Georgia’s tweets — one of which claimed that Sullivan was “very racist and got what she deserved.”
Another comment posted by the “troll account” read, “I would just like to say that I am in fact a RACIST alumni and I hate what the school is doing to these monuments.”
“I support the white supremacist so they are big mad! They are important and I’m empowered by them,” a separate post reportedly read.
“This makes me look terrible! I didn’t tweet this! They did,” Sullivan said to Campus Reform.
Sullivan said she filed a police report with the Baker County Sheriff’s Office in Macclenny, Florida because of the threats she was receiving. She also submitted her driver’s license to Twitter nine times in order to show that the other account was a “troll account.”
But Sullivan told Campus Reform that Twitter has never responded to her concerns.
Sullivan also contacted the University of Georgia, which told her that they will review any “investigative reports” that the police submit.
“I understand that UGA [University of Georgia alumna] wants to wait until the investigation proceeds and arrests are made, but there is a climate on the UGA Campus that obviously protects such behavior,” Sullivan told the publication. Sullivan felt that the users “were very comfortable in tagging UGA” in the aggressive tweets they were posting.
The UGA is apparently monitoring the situation.
