Members of the Black Caucus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill may be looking to be employed at other institutions.

In a recent announcement, the UNC Black Caucus stated that 70% of its members are considering leaving the university with more than half already seeking positions at other schools.

"It’s a really hard time to be in Carolina and to lift up the values we thought we shared, but are clearly not the same," Dawna Jones, a member of the Black Caucus said.

The news that a majority of the Black Caucus are planning to leave UNC was met with dismay from the surrounding community.

"I am incredibly saddened to hear that 70% of my Black colleagues are looking to leave the university. If this happens, our community will be devastated, and we will all be gravely diminished. These are my UNC family members and they are hurting. We have clearly failed them,” Shayna Hill, chair of the UNC Employee Forum, said.

At UNC, only eight Black women were tenured professors out of a possible 622 during the 2019-2020 school year as reported by the National Center for Education Statistics. That amounts to only 1% of full-time professor positions with tenure being held by Black women.

"It’s a heartbreaking realization that a lot of people are trying to find their way out right now," Jones added.

As Blavity previously reported, the racial tensions on the campus of UNC stem from the denial of tenure of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, one of the creators of the  1619 Project.

Back in May, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ruled against giving Hannah-Jones tenure. An alumnus of UNC, Hannah-Jones was the Knight Chair in Race and Investigative Journalism. Instead of being promoted to full professor, she was offered a fixed-term, five-year contract. 

Although the nomination was approved by the faculty, the university trustees ruled against it. In the past, other candidates that preceded Hannah-Jones all received tenured for the same position.

After she was denied tenure, she received support from the community.

“State institutions across the country are attempting to ban frank and rigorous conversation about our history in the classroom,” a letter in support of Hannah-Jones read.  “Few single works have been threatened with more restrictions than the 1619 Project, a landmark exploration of America’s deep roots in enslavement.”

Paris Miller-Foushee of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro chapter of the NAACP is concerned that if members of the Black Caucus of UNC leave, it will have devastating effects on the community.

Getting into some #GoodTrouble with these two… when the call comes, we answer the call…and then go for ice cream afterwards ???? #StandWithBlackWomen @nhannahjones @shesath1nker @MZPollyAnna @UNCBlackCaucus @CHCNAACP pic.twitter.com/lEpUGoPeYD

— Paris Miller-Foushee (@ParisMillerCH) June 17, 2021

"UNC is a public university, and we need it to show up in ways in the community that are beneficial to all," she said. "We know Carolina has what it takes to be a great institution and be inclusive of all of us but we have to keep fighting for that every day."

1619 ProjectNAACPNikole-Hannah-Jones