Stanly Community College trustee resigns after online post draws accusations of racism

A member of the Stanly County Community College Board of Trustees said Thursday he has resigned from the board after a controversial Facebook sparked public uproar and accusations of racism.

Kelly Lowder wrote in a Facebook message to NC Newsline that he decided to resign because the media attention was a distraction to the college and its mission.

“My post had nothing to do with either education or the college and it appears the basement-dwellers from reddit found a way to be offended and wanted to attack me,” Lowder said. 

In the Facebook post that caused the controversy. Lowder, a trustee since 2016, complained about “double standards” for white people saying the “N-word,” as first reported by The Assembly.  

He went on to write that if “white people ‘lose’ in the US,” as he implies they have in other countries,  it will be “really, really, really bad” for everyone else in the world, and he concluded by writing, “maybe the world needs a good purge.”

In his post, Lowder referenced Shiloh Hendrix, a Minnesota woman who was found guilty of one charge of disorderly conduct after calling an 8-year-old autistic child a racial slur on a playground. 

“You can say the N-word 15 times in a 3 minute rap tune, but god forbid some ***hole gets on your nerves and your pasty self lets one drop. #Shiloh,” Lowder wrote.

The post also included a photo of Hendrix and Decarlos Brown Jr., a Black man whom a federal judge found incompetent to stand trial for stabbing a woman to death on the Charlotte light rail in 2025. The judge ordered Brown to spend up to four months in a prison medical facility to try to restore his competency. 

Court order forces NC Republican lawmakers to postpone hearing on high-profile Charlotte stabbing

The text attached to the photo in Lowder’s post read, “Shiloh Hendrix is on trial for saying a word before DeCarlos Brown is for murder. Insane.”

Lowder concluded the post by writing that the number of people who “can’t or won’t produce enough economic output to feed themselves has risen 5-fold in my lifetime,” and then suggests the world needs a “good purge.”

Lowder clarified in the comments under his Facebook post that he used “purge” to mean “starvation as a natural consequence of not having enough productive individuals to feed all the rest,” as reported by The Assembly. 

Lowder said in a statement to NC Newsline that he is proud to have charitably served on the board for 10 years, and that he was in charge of the Finance and Facilities committee when Stanly Community College built a new trades facility, which opened in 2025. 

Walter B. Davis was hired to build the new facility. The Charlotte-based company was founded as a “100% minority owned and operated General Contractor,” according to its website.

“Ultimately at my recommendation, we awarded that contract to Walter B. Davis. To suggest that I’m racist is preposterous,” Lowder wrote, adding, “I will find other ways to serve my community.”  

The post sparked outrage on multiple social media platforms including Reddit, where the post surfaced on the “r/NorthCarolina” board. One anonymous Reddit commentator wrote “SCCC is an excellent community college in an area of great need, and it sucks that this clown is sullying their good reputation.”

Stanly County Community College declined to comment on the controversy. In a statement, college spokeswoman Jennifer Aries clarified that the Board of Trustees is the college’s governing body and operates independently from the college’s administration.

“As a matter of Board governance, individual trustees speak and act only through official, collective action of the Board of Trustees.” Aries wrote. “Personal social media posts by individual trustees do not represent the official views, positions, or policies of Stanly Community College or its Board of Trustees.” 

The chairwoman of the Board of Trustees, Lisa Burris, did not respond to NC Newsline’s requests for comment. 

The North Carolina Community College System oversees community colleges throughout the state. Nathan Hardin, communications director for NCCCS, wrote in a statement to NC Newsline that local boards of trustees govern their colleges independently, and thus carry their own “responsibility and accountability.” 

“The North Carolina Community College System is committed to campuses where every student is welcomed and able to succeed,” Hardin told NC Newsline.“The System Office is in communication with Stanly Community College and trusts its board and leadership to act in the best interest of students, faculty, and staff.”

Six of the 12 trustees for each North Carolina community colleges are appointed by the General Assembly, and the other half by local county commissioners under state law. Lowder was appointed by state lawmakers to a four-year term ending in 2028. Neither state Rep. Cody Huneycutt, R-Stanly, or Sen. Carl Ford, R-Stanly, the county’s only two lawmakers, responded to requests for comment.