Morgan Bettinger: How Zyahna Bryant’s False Accusation of Racism Ruined a UVA Student’s Life

Morgan Bettinger, a 22-year-old white student at the University of Virginia (UVA), was expelled from the school in 2020 after being accused of making racist remarks to a group of Black Lives Matter (BLM) protesters. The accuser, Zyahna Bryant, a 19-year-old black student and activist, claimed that she heard Bettinger say that the protesters would “make good speed bumps” as she drove by them in her car.

However, a university investigation later found “insufficient evidence” to support Bryant’s allegations, and even suggested that Bryant never heard Bettinger say anything at all. Despite this, the university upheld the expulsion and imposed other sanctions on Bettinger, who has since filed a lawsuit against the school for violating her First Amendment rights and tampering with the investigations.

The Incident and the Accusation

The incident occurred on August 20, 2020, when Bryant and other BLM protesters gathered on East High Street in Charlottesville, near the site where Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old white woman, was killed in 2017 by a white supremacist who drove his car into a crowd of anti-racist demonstrators. According to Bryant, who posted a series of tweets and videos about the incident, a white woman in a silver SUV drove around a public works truck that was blocking the road and told the protesters twice that they would “make good speed bumps”.

Zyahna said that the second time, the woman added “good fucking speed bumps” and directed it to a black protester. Bryant also said that the woman then called the police and started crying, saying that she was being attacked by the protesters.

Bryant’s tweets went viral, attracting more than 1,000 retweets and hundreds of comments. Her allegations were also picked up by local media outlets, such as C-VILLE Weekly and NBC29, which reported them as facts without verifying them or identifying the woman.

Zyahna also wrote a Medium post with other members of Charlottesville Beyond Policing, the group that organized the protest, in which they described the incident as a “threat” and a “chilling and violent” reminder of Heyer’s murder.

Morgan’s Facebook Profile – @morgan.bettinger

The Investigation and the Expulsion

The woman in question was Morgan Bettinger, a fourth-year student at UVA who was majoring in psychology and sociology. She had just returned from a grocery shopping trip with her roommate when she encountered the protest on her way back to her off-campus apartment. According to her account, which she gave to several university investigators and later to Reason magazine, she never spoke to or interacted with any of the protesters.

Instead, she said that she had a casual conversation with a truck driver who had been sent by the city to block the road during the protest. She said that she joked with him something along the lines of “it’s a good thing that you are here, because otherwise, these people would have been speed bumps”. She said that she did not intend any malice or harm by her remark, and that she did not think anyone else heard it.

However, shortly after Bryant’s tweets went viral, Bettinger started receiving hateful messages and threats on social media from strangers who accused her of being a racist and a murderer. She also received an email from UVA’s Office of Equal Opportunity and Civil Rights (EOCR), informing her that she was under investigation for violating the university’s policy on discrimination and harassment. The email also instructed her to not contact any of the witnesses or parties involved in the incident.

Morgan Bettinger cooperated with the EOCR investigation, which lasted for several weeks. She provided her phone records, GPS data, photos of her car, and statements from her roommate and the truck driver to corroborate her version of events. She also agreed to take a polygraph test, which showed that she was telling the truth. However, none of this evidence seemed to matter to the EOCR investigators, who repeatedly questioned her credibility and motives, and suggested that she was lying or hiding something.

Meanwhile, Bryant also participated in the EOCR investigation as a complainant. She submitted her tweets, videos, and Medium post as evidence of Bettinger’s alleged misconduct. She also provided statements from two other protesters who claimed to have heard Bettinger say “speed bumps” to them. However, when asked by the investigators to identify Bettinger from a photo lineup, neither Bryant nor the other witnesses could do so. In fact, Zyahna admitted that she did not see Bettinger’s face or hear her voice clearly during the incident.

Despite these inconsistencies and contradictions, the EOCR concluded its investigation in October 2020 with a finding that Morgan Bettinger had violated the university’s policy on discrimination and harassment by making “threatening” remarks to the protesters. The EOCR referred the case to the University Judiciary Committee (UJC), a student-run body that handles cases of non-academic misconduct.

The UJC held a hearing in November 2020, in which Bettinger and Bryant presented their arguments and evidence. The UJC panel, composed of three students and one faculty member, found Bettinger guilty of “threatening” UVA students, and recommended that she be expelled from the university. The panel also imposed other sanctions on Bettinger, such as requiring her to write an apology letter to Bryant, complete an online course on diversity and inclusion, and perform 40 hours of community service related to racial justice.

Bettinger appealed the UJC decision to the vice president for student affairs, who upheld the expulsion but reduced the other sanctions. Bettinger then appealed to the president of the university, who also upheld the expulsion but suspended it for one year, meaning that Bettinger could reapply for admission after that period. However, Morgan Bettinger decided not to pursue this option and instead graduated from UVA in December 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and sociology.

Morgan Bettinger – The Lawsuit and the Backlash

In August 2021, Bettinger filed a federal lawsuit against UVA and several of its officials, alleging that they violated her First Amendment rights and denied her due process. She also accused them of “purposefully tampering” with the investigations and “persecuting, prosecuting, and punishing” her for speech that was clearly protected by the Constitution. She sought damages for emotional distress, reputational harm, and lost educational and career opportunities.

Morgan Bettinger’s lawsuit drew attention from national media outlets, such as Fox News, Reason, and Forbes, which highlighted the injustice and absurdity of her case. Many commentators criticized UVA for its handling of the incident and its disregard for free speech and academic freedom. Some also called for a boycott of Dove, a soap company that had partnered with Bryant in 2023 to promote “fat liberation”. Bryant, who had been praised for her activism work in removing a Confederate statue from Charlottesville in 2017, faced backlash online for her role in ruining Bettinger’s life.

Bryant defended herself in an interview with Black Enterprise magazine, saying that she stood by her allegations and that she was not responsible for Bettinger’s expulsion. She also said that she was not bothered by the boycott of Dove, and that she was proud of her work with the company. She claimed that she was a victim of racism and sexism, and that she would continue to fight for social justice.

The Current Status and the Future Implications

As of September 16, 2023, Morgan Bettinger’s lawsuit is still pending in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia. UVA has not commented on the lawsuit or issued any apology or statement to Bettinger. It is unclear whether the university will settle the case or go to trial.

The case has raised important questions about the state of free speech and due process on college campuses, especially in relation to issues of race and social justice. It has also exposed the flaws and biases of UVA’s policies and procedures on discrimination and harassment, which seem to favor accusers over accused students. It has also shown how social media can amplify false or misleading accusations and ruin someone’s reputation and career.

Bettinger’s case is not an isolated one. There have been other instances of students being falsely accused or punished for expressing unpopular or controversial opinions on campus. For example, in 2019, a student at Colorado State University was investigated for saying that “there are only two genders” during a class discussion. In 2020, a student at Fordham University was suspended for posting a picture of himself holding a gun with a caption that said “Don’t tread on me”. In 2021, a student at Georgetown University Law Center was expelled for making a sarcastic remark about affirmative action during a Zoom call.

These cases illustrate the need for more protection and respect for free speech and due process rights on campus. They also call for more dialogue and understanding among students of different backgrounds and perspectives, rather than resorting to censorship or punishment. As Morgan Bettinger said in an interview with Reason magazine:

I think people need to be more open-minded and listen to each other more…I think people need to realize that we’re all human beings and we all make mistakes.