Update (June 23, 2021): Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones has informed the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill that she will not join its faculty next month unless she is offered a position with tenure. Hannah-Jones shared the notice with the university in a letter from her lawyers, according to reports from the New York Times.
Hannah-Jones agreed to a five-year contract with the university as the Knight Chair in the Race and Investigative Journalism department at the university's Hussman School of Journalism and Media. But she and her legal advisors switched course when it was revealed she would not be receiving tenure as reported by NC Policy Watch.
“Since signing the fixed-term contract, Ms. Hannah-Jones has come to learn that political interference and influence from a powerful donor contributed to the Board of Trustees’ failure to consider her tenure application,” they wrote. “In light of this information, Ms. Hannah-Jones cannot trust that the University would consider her tenure application in good faith during the period of the fixed-term contract.
“Such good faith consideration for tenure was understood to be an essential element of the fixed-term contract when Ms. Hannah-Jones agreed to enter into it. In light of the information which has come to her attention since that time, she cannot begin employment with the University without the protection and security of tenure,” the letter continued.
The letter stated that Hannah-Jones has not withdrawn her application for tenure, but she was offered "inferior terms of employment" because of discriminatory practices and "unlawful political influence.”
“Under these circumstances, any appointment of Ms. Hannah-Jones without tenure is unacceptable,” the letter read.
In response to Hannah-Jones’ letter, Joel Curran, UNC-Chapel Hill vice chancellor of communications, released an official statement, CNN reported.
"The University has been contacted by attorneys representing Nikole Hannah-Jones. While this remains a confidential personnel matter, as Chancellor Guskiewicz has said publicly, we feel she will add great value to the Carolina campus." the statement read.
As Blavity previously reported, Hannah-Jone gave the university 48 hours to reconsider its decision of denying her tenure or face legal action from her attorneys.
According to Hannah Jones, “she was repeatedly told by UNC orally and in writing that her hiring process would include a vote on her tenure package by the UNC Board of Trustees.”
She later mentioned in the letter that she completed all the prerequisites for the tenure process which included numerous meetings with faculty and teaching a class to students as an evaluation.
Original (June 2, 2021): The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Board of Trustees has been given until Friday to reconsider its decision of denying tenure to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones before facing litigation from her legal team.
Amid controversy involving a major donor to the university, the board said it needed more time to discuss the matter, Inside Higher Ed reported.
In emails obtained by The Assembly, Walter Hussman Jr., a megadonor, expressed concern to UNC chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz and other campus officials in September 2020 that Hannah-Jones’ background would negatively impact the reputation of the journalism program.
“My hope and vision was that the journalism school would be the champion of objective, impartial reporting and separating news and opinion, and that would add so much to its reputation and would benefit both the school and the University,” the UNC graduate wrote. “Instead, I fear this possible and needless controversy will overshadow it.”
Hussman, who originally pledged $25 million dollars to the university’s journalism school in 2019 leading to the program receiving his namesake, has critically opposed the selection of Hannah-Jones. The controversy over the Black journalist stems from the 1619 Project which Hannah-Jones created. The 1619 Project focuses on the history of slavery and the experiences of Black Americans in the U.S., Slate reported.
In his email, Hussman went on to make an ill-advised remark and his disdain for Hannah-Jones.
“Long before Nikole Hannah Jones won her Pulitzer Prize, courageous white southerners risking their lives standing up for the rights of blacks were winning Pulitzer prizes, too,” he wrote.
Hannah-Jones responded to the remarks on Twitter saying "Just wow." She said she’s always credited Black and white reporters throughout her career, insinuating that Hussman’s claims are baseless.
Also: completely irrelevant to my credentials as a journalist, for the record, I’ve long credited Black and white race beat reporters with inspiring my own journalism. This has been on the bio page of my web site for years. pic.twitter.com/fzsC9HGKzt
— Ida Bae Wells (@nhannahjones) May 30, 2021
In response to The Assembly’s article, Hussman said he never pressured anyone from UNC to deny Hannah-Jones tenure.
"I feel, as a donor, I should have absolutely nothing to do with the hiring or firing of anybody on the faculty," he said. “It’s not my decision, but I think I’d be kind of derelict in my duties if I thought they were making a mistake without at least telling them what I thought about it.”
In an interview with WRAL, he said that his concerns were not political nor was he bending the standards of objective journalism, according to NC Policy Watch.
UNC’s conservative board initially denied Hannah-Jones tenure in May, stating that she wasn’t fit for a teaching position due to her journalistic background, as Blavity previously reported. The decision was met with backlash from prominent journalists and supporters of Hannah-Jones, who demanded their decision be reversed.
The board will hold another special meeting on July 14, according to ABC 11 News.
In an interview, Hussman declined to comment on UNC’s matter with Hannah-Jones.
