Kelly Lowder sits on the Stanly Community College Board of Trustees, appointed by the North Carolina General Assembly in 2024 for a four-year term. Last week, he used that public standing to post a Facebook rant defending the use of racial slurs, make racially coded remarks about population "purges," and juxtapose a white woman charged with a hate-related offense against a Black man awaiting trial, implying the criminal justice system is rigged in favor of Black Americans.

About one in five Stanly CC students is Black. Every one of them now sits under a trustee who has publicly minimized a racial slur directed at a Black child, expressed demographic grievance about white Americans "losing" influence, and used a Black man's mugshot to make a political point about race and justice.

Stanly Community College responded by saying Lowder's posts do not represent the institution and that "individuals from all backgrounds and experiences are welcomed, valued, treated with dignity and respect." Those are the right words. But the college has no authority over its board, and the board has no public mechanism to remove a trustee for conduct that directly contradicts those values.

The state legislators responsible for Lowder's appointment, Rep. Cody Huneycutt and Sen. Carl Ford of Stanly County, declined to comment when asked by The Assembly. That silence is not acceptable. Public appointees who govern public institutions should be held to a conduct standard. When they aren't, the students who depend on those institutions pay the price.

Sign this petition to demand the NC General Assembly remove Kelly Lowder from the Stanly Community College Board of Trustees and establish a trustee code of conduct with a clear removal process for all NC community colleges.