UNC-Chapel Hill voted in favor of providing renowned journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones tenure at the university.
On Wednesday, the Chapel Hill Board of Trustees (BOT) approved Hannah-Jones’ tenure after she refused to work at the school without it, The New York Times reported.
Ahead of the vote, Susan King, dean of UNC-Chapel Hill’s Hussman School of Journalism, stood in solidarity with Hannah-Jones and said they are “grateful” for her being welcomed into the university’s staff.
“@UNC's BOT is completing the tenure process begun so long ago to bring @NikoleHannahJones to our school as the Knight Chair in Race and Investigative Reporting,” King wrote on Twitter. “On behalf of our faculty and staff – and the larger UNC campus – we are grateful. She has earned this distinction.
The Pulitzer-prize-winning journalist, who is also a UNC-Chapel Hill alumna, has been enmeshed in a controversial debate regarding her tenure since May after conservative groups complained about her groundbreaking "1619 Project."
“For her to be scrutinized as a result of this project is outrageous,” Betty Curry, a member of the NAACP, said at the end of May. “White America has a problem with the truth, especially when it comes to Black America.”
In regards to the circumstances, Patricia Harris, vice chairman of the faculty group The Carolina Black Caucus and director of recruitment for the school of education, made a point to emphasize that Hannah-Jones’ treatment is not “isolated.”
“This is not an isolated incident. It’s exacerbated what we’ve been seeing across campus, and even across the country when it comes to Black faculty, staff and students,” she said, NBC News reported. “This is a systemic issue where the goal posts are constantly being moved for people of color.”
Initially, Hannah-Jones signed a five-year contract to join the faculty at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Hussman School of Media and Journalism under the assumption that she would receive tenure, however, a review of her tenure application was postponed in January due to her “non-academic background.”
Joel Curran, UNC-Chapel Hill vice chancellor of communications, released an official statement in response to Hannah-Jones' letter stating she would not work at the university without tenure.
"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, CNN reported.
On Friday, protesters gathered at the university to advocate for Hannah-Jones’ tenure approval. Protesters had signs that read “1619 … 2021. Same Struggle,” “I can give you 1,619 reasons why Hannah-Jones should be tenured” and “Black Professors Matter.”
