Thread by @ashtonpittman

NEW: When the University of Mississippi fired historian Garrett Felber in 2020, he said it was about his anti-racist views—a claim UM rejected.

But emails show officials grew concerned after he spoke publicly against UM's ties to a private prison company.
mississippifreepress.org/14250/emails-s…

In December 2019, Dr. Felber spoke to an audience of prison abolitionists about UM's history of slavery and its historic ties to the prison system.

Then, he turned his attention to an instructor on campus: nationally renowned journalist Charles Overby. mississippifreepress.org/14250/emails-s…

Charles Overby was chair of the Freedom Forum, which was over the Newseum in Washington, D.C., from 1989 to 2011.

In 2001, the Freedom Forum donated $5 million to establish a new center on campus: The Overby Center For Southern Journalism and Politics. mississippifreepress.org/14250/emails-s…

The same year the Overby Center was established, Felber told the audience at the #MUMI2019 conference, Overby became director of Corrections Corporation of America, now known as CoreCivic—the 2nd largest private prison company in the country. mississippifreepress.org/14250/emails-s…

“Since then, Overby has received an annual salary and stock options from CoreCivic, and his current shares in the company are nearing $1.5 million, and he has sold over half a million dollars in stocks,” Felber told the audience. mississippifreepress.org/14250/emails-s…

Felber's revelations led to a flurry of tweets, with audience members using the hashtags, #UMPrivatePrisons and #CharlesOverby.

Miles away, officials in UM's Communications & Marketing Office monitored the #MUMI2019 tweets as they rolled in.
mississippifreepress.org/14250/emails-s…

UM Marketing Chief Jim Zook to Overby: “(Our) team is monitoring activity on the hashtag that emerged from the MUMI conference. The uptake seems to be confined to conference attendees & their sympathizers, but we all know how quickly that can change."mississippifreepress.org/14250/emails-s…

Zook to Overby: “I’ve discussed this with Noel (Wilkin, the provost) as well, and we certainly don’t support this type of personal targeting of members of our community."
mississippifreepress.org/14250/emails-s…

In the weeks that followed, Charles Overby offered to quit as a member of Mississippi Today's board of directors after the publication disclosed his ties to CoreCivic in a story about the private prison company.
mississippifreepress.org/14250/emails-s…

Overby: “Friends, I see that Mississippi Today editors thought it necessary to insert my board affiliation with CoreCivic in the latest prison story. I am proud of that affiliation, & MS is very fortunate to have a reputable outlet like CoreCivic..." mississippifreepress.org/14250/emails-s…

After @MSFreePress published my 3-part #UMEmails exposé that showed how some wealthy donors with racist views had outsize influence at UM, Felber criticized the university in a series of tweets, accusing them of “prioritiz(ing) racist donors over all else.”mississippifreepress.org/14250/emails-s…

A year after the MUMI conference, the university terminated Felber’s contract as a tenure-track assistant professor, telling him he would leave the university on Dec. 31, 2021, and would not be considered for tenure.

@middleton380 broke that story:
mississippifreepress.org/7518/um-fires-…

UM Provost Noel Wilkin said the “non-renewal decision was not motivated by or in any way related to the topics of Dr. Felber’s research, including the history of the carceral state and race, or his work with those who are incarcerated.” mississippifreepress.org/14250/emails-s…

Felber: “I was terminated because of my public statements, including legitimate criticisms of the university. Rather than go to court and seek reinstatement, I have chosen to move on and continue my work from a position outside this university."
mississippifreepress.org/14250/emails-s…

Felber: “My employment for UM brought me to the state where I now consider many organizers & colleagues part of my family. Terminating that appointment does not end my commitment to fighting alongside them to abolish white supremacy & state violence." mississippifreepress.org/14250/emails-s…

Felber: “The university is, and always has been, a political institution. When the University of Mississippi was constructed with enslaved labor to reproduce the wealth and power of a handful of white men, it was political." mississippifreepress.org/14250/emails-s…

Overby became *A director

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