Gary Eugene Birdsong, commonly known as Preacher Gary or The Pit Preacher, is a travelling fundamentalist Christian preacher who frequents college campuses across the United States, particularly in North Carolina. He is known for his unorthodox interpretation of the Bible and his theatrical, accusatory style of preaching. He often argues vehemently with other, more moderate Christians who accuse him of misrepresenting the Christian faith and driving people away from it with his extremism.
Birdsong, known to his audience as the New Quad Preacher (at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte), Pit Preacher (at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), the Sanford Mall Preacher (at Appalachian State University), the Brickyard Preacher (at the North Carolina State University), and the Joyner Steps Preacher (at East Carolina University) has a large repertoire of subjects on which he preaches, ranging from the standards of heaven and hell, to drug use, premarital sex, homosexuality, Islam, atheism, feminism, communism, masturbation, rock and rap music, abortion, evolution, tolerance, politics, war, fashion, witchcraft, racism, and demonic possession.[1]
Preaching style and repertoire
Birdsong uses a theatrical, accusatory style of preaching because he believes "getting people angry is his most effective method of preaching".[2] He often offends students with his fundamentalist views, such as his belief that "white folks are different, black folks are different and when you start mixing them up there's a lot of confusion", and his opinion on feminism is that "it ain't in the Bible".[3] His views frequently result in heated debates with students,[4] though he says it is not until "folks get attitudes that I get attitude".[2]
When asked by a student interviewer his opinion on UNC being a liberal university, he responded, "This University is the most stupidest place I have ever been."[2] He called the administration "wicked people", and said, "they've perverted the First Amendment — the state was told not to interfere with the First Amendment, the freedom to practice religion. Well, just look at what religion they're talking about! It's Christianity — look at the founding fathers!"[5] His nickname for the university is "Homo Hill",[4] his view on homosexuality being that it is "an abomination to God".[3][dead link]
Student reactions
UNC-Chapel Hill students providing a musical ambush of BirdsongBirdsong standing next to a student in the Pit in 2018
On March 8, 2007, Birdsong was removed from The Pit by Campus Police following an incident. According to reports, members of the UNC outdoor recreation program Carolina Adventures had reserved half of The Pit to promote their programs. Shortly after they set up their materials, Birdsong entered The Pit near their table and began to preach. They asked him to move away from their table, and Birdsong moved to the other side of The Pit. The representatives for Carolina Adventures did not feel this was sufficient and asked UNC Police to remove Birdsong from the area. After refusing to move farther away, he was removed to loud jeers directed at the police from the crowd that had gathered to watch him preach.[4] A similar incident occurred in the 1980s resulting in his arrest.[4]
Birdsong was issued a trespass warning that prohibited him from entering The Pit for two years. Following the incident, he returned to preach, initially in front of Davis Library, about 100 feet from The Pit, and later about 200 feet away, in front of Wilson Library on Polk Place, which he referred to as "the Homo Zone".[4] During this dislocation, he was sometimes referred to as the "adjacent to the Pit preacher".[6] In March 2009, Birdsong's two-year banishment from The Pit expired and he once again returned to preach in The Pit. Some students were glad to see him return to this popular spot after his extended absence,[7] but the overall reaction was mixed.[6] Some disagree with his beliefs but feel he has a right to be there. Others just find him entertaining.[4]
Backstory
Birdsong professes to be an ex-Hells Angel,[5] citing that fact multiple times when he is preaching about forgiveness. He claims that his "calling" came to him in the middle of 40 Hells Angels in Durham County in North Carolina.
Chapel Hill is a town in Orange and Durham County, North Carolina, United States. Its population was 61,960 in the 2020 census, making Chapel Hill the 17th-most populous municipality in the state. Chapel Hill and Durham make up the Durham-Chapel Hill, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had an estimated population of 608,879 in 2023. When it's combined with Raleigh, the state capital, they make up the corners of the Research Triangle, which had an estimated population of 2,368,947 in 2023.
The University of North Carolina is the public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC System to differentiate it from its first campus, UNC-Chapel Hill.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolling students in 1795, making it one of the oldest public universities in the United States.
WXYC is an American radio station broadcasting a college radio format. Licensed to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States, the station is run by students of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The station is owned by Student Educational Broadcasting, Inc. The station operates with an effective radiated power of 1,100 watts from an antenna height above average terrain of 147 meters (482 ft).
The Confederate Monument, University of North Carolina, commonly known as Silent Sam, is a bronze statue of a Confederate soldier by Canadian sculptor John A. Wilson, which once stood on McCorkle Place of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) from 1913 until it was pulled down by protestors on August 20, 2018. Its former location has been described as "the front door" of the university and "a position of honor".
The Order of Gimghoul is a collegiate secret society at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It is headquartered at Hippol Castle in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
On March 3, 2006, Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar intentionally hit people with a sport utility vehicle on the campus of the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill to "avenge the deaths of Muslims worldwide" and to "punish" the United States government. While no one was killed in the vehicle-ramming attack, nine people were injured.
Julian Shakespeare Carr was an American industrialist, philanthropist, and white supremacist. He is the namesake of the town of Carrboro, North Carolina.
Joseph Carlyle "Lyle" Sitterson was an American educator who served as chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from February 16, 1966, to January 31, 1972.
Herbert Holden Thorp is an American chemist, professor and entrepreneur. He is a professor of chemistry at George Washington University. He was the tenth chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, assuming the position on July 1, 2008, succeeding James Moeser, and, at age 43, was noted as being among the youngest leaders of a university in the United States. At the time of his selection as chancellor, Thorp was the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and a Kenan Professor of chemistry at the university.
Robert Hett Chapman was a Presbyterian minister and missionary and the second president of the University of North Carolina.
On the morning of March 5, 2008, Eve Marie Carson was abducted, robbed and shot to death in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States where she was a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Carson had been studying in her student house when Demario James Atwater and Laurence Alvin Lovette ambushed her, forced her into a car and stole $700 from her card. After taking the money, Atwater and Lovette dragged her into the woods before shooting her several times with a handgun. When this did not kill Carson, Atwater murdered her with a fatal shot from a shotgun to the side of her head, before fleeing the scene.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a coeducational public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. It is one of three schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States. The first public institution of higher education in North Carolina, the school opened on February 12, 1795.
The Black Student Movement (BSM) is an organization at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It is the second largest student-run organization and one of the largest cultural organizations on the school's campus. The organization was created on November 7, 1967 to combat problems of black recruit, admissions, and integration on UNC-CH campus.
Youth for Western Civilization (YWC) was a far right student group registered as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in the United States. The group became a corporation in 2006 and began actively organizing in 2008. Kevin DeAnna founded the organization. Its honorary chairman was former Colorado US Representative Tom Tancredo.
Over 8,000 undergraduate and graduate students live in campus housing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill during a regular school year. Forty residence halls are grouped into 16 residential communities across campus.
Annie Elizabeth Clark is a women's rights and civil rights activist in the United States. She was one of the lead complainants of the 2013 Title IX and Clery Act charges lodged against the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, claiming that the institution violated the law by the way they handled sexual assault complaints. Clark and Andrea Pino, then a fellow UNC student and also a victim of sexual assault, launched a nationwide campaign to use Title IX complaints to force U.S. universities to address sexual assault and related problems more aggressively. Clark is co-founder with Pino of End Rape on Campus, an advocacy group for victims of campus sexual assault.
Jim Kitchen is an American entrepreneur and professor. He is the first person to travel to all 193 United Nations recognized countries, bottom of the ocean and to space.
On August 28, 2023, Zijie Yan, an associate professor at the University of North Carolina (UNC) in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States, was shot and killed on campus. 34-year-old Tailei Qi, one of his graduate students, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. The shooting sent the university into lockdown for three hours.
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