Campus Security Director Harry Hackl’s Twitter account stirred up concern in UBC’s online community this morning due to its inflammatory content related to vaccines, masks and transgender people.
In an emailed statement, Rae Ann Aldridge, executive director of UBC Safety & Risk Services — the department which includes Campus Security — said the university is reviewing the situation. UBC confirmed that the account did belong to Hackl.
The account was deactivated around 11:50 a.m. on April 22, following an 11:30 a.m. media request from The Ubyssey to UBC.
Someone posted ten of the account’s tweets to the UBC subreddit around 11 a.m. on Friday morning. One tweet posted on April 7 said people who listened to public health guidelines to get booster shots and wear masks “seriously need therapy.”
Hackl retweeted a tweet that made a joke of University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas’s gender identity and referred to her “dick.” Thomas is a transgender woman.
In screenshots taken by The Ubyssey, Hackl also called a person concerned about governments lifting their mask mandates an “idiot” and those who support the vaccines “nuts.”
In response to a tweet calling for the end of woke culture and political correctness on April 19, Hackl wrote, “These mooks are unable to cope and reside in bubbles … They lack common sense!”
“We understand some members of the community have detailed concerns related to the content on the account,” Aldridge wrote in a statement, adding that the university could not comment further due to privacy law.
Hackl began as director of Campus Security in January 2022.
In a written interview with The Ubyssey earlier this year, Hackl said he would work to make sure marginalized communities felt safe on campus.
“Through respectful, inclusive and positive engagement, Campus Security will create a ‘safe space’ for those within the UBCV community who experience marginalization of any kind on campus,” he said.
This is a developing story. This article will be updated as more information becomes available.