UNC Charlotte Apologizes For Police Confiscating Article Of Faith From Student
In a joint statement, UNC Charlotte Chancellor Sharon L. Gaber and Chief Diversity Officer Brandon L. Wolfe apologized that a police officer confiscated a religious article of faith, a kirpan, from Sikh student, Amaan Singh. The kirpan looks like a knife or dagger and State law and University policy prohibits the possession of a knife “or other edged instruments on campus.”
Gaber and Wolfe made a public commitment that the misunderstanding would not happen again. UNC Charlotte had recently been recognized among the best education institutions in the nation for its outstanding diversity and inclusion efforts. The University is a recipient of the 2022 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine.
In the Gaber and Wolfe statement, they explained: “UNC Charlotte dispatch received a 911 call reporting someone with a knife in the building. Police officers responded to the scene and engaged the individual in question. During this interaction, the individual was placed in handcuffs while officers took possession of the object. The handcuffs were removed after the object was retrieved.”
“Further investigation showed the item was a kirpan, an article of faith in Sikhism.”
” … we will use this as a learning opportunity by engaging in constructive dialogue with Sikh students and employees. Together, we are confident we can find reasonable measures and educational opportunities that both protect the safety of our campus and the religious practices of our community members.”