The University of North Carolina on Wednesday bowed to conservative pressure, denying New York Times Magazine writer Nikole Hannah-Jones a tenured professorship at the university’s Hussman School of Journalism. Instead of approving her application for tenure as the Knight Chair in Race and Investigative Journalism, which came at the recommendation of the journalism department, the board offered her a fixed five-year contract with the option for tenure review—“a work-around,” as one board member told NC Policy Watch, which first reported the news that sent shockwaves throughout the education and journalism communities. “I am afraid it will have a chilling effect,” Susan King, the Hussman dean, said of the decision.
In opting not to offer her tenure upon appointment—as the last two Knight Chairs were granted, according to the New York Times—the school appeared to cave to backlash prompted by Hannah-Jones’s selection in April. The criticism centered around her work on the 1619 Project, the award-winning initiative that re-examines the nation’s founding through the lens of slavery. Spearheaded by Hannah-Jones, the project has been a source of contention more or less since it launched in 2019. While some historians have critiqued its accuracy—in some cases leading to edits and clarifications—the opposition has overwhelmingly come from the Republican camp, with Senator Tom Cotton trying to stop schools from teaching the curriculum last July and, more recently, Senator Mitch McConnell dismissing the importance of addressing systemic racism in school altogether. “Americans never decided our children should be taught that our country is inherently evil,” he said, blasting the 1619 Project as “debunked advocacy” focused on “spoon-feeding students a slanted story.”
Such were the kinds of complaints leveled by conservative groups closely connected to the board of trustees after Hannah-Jones’ hire was announced last month. But in succumbing to the controversy, UNC now faces backlash anew, as dozens of faculty members from the journalism school demanded it change course and offer Hannah-Jones, who earned a master’s degree from UNC in 2003 and a MacArthur fellowship in 2017, the anticipated tenured position. “We call on the university’s leadership to reaffirm its commitment to the university, its faculty and time-honored norms and procedures, and its endorsed values of diversity, equity, and inclusion,” the letter said. Journalism faculty from schools across the country are also calling “for immediate reconsideration” in letters that have circulated protesting the decision.
The outcry extends beyond the academic community, with acclaimed journalists, politicians, and civil rights advocates calling out UNC for caving on academic freedom. Many noted that the move validated conservative attempts, such as those pushed by McConnell earlier this month, to stifle racial equity work in U.S. school systems. “Tenure exists precisely to protect faculty from this kind of politicized decision-making,” the New Yorker’s Jelani Cobb wrote, noting the “obscene” decision “may silence and intimidate young untenured scholars” and is an assault on “the freedom to produce critical scholarship in an alleged democratic society.” LDF’s Sherrilyn Ifill added that the “chilling” and “ugly” decision is “an embarrassment for an institution of higher learning.”
One board member told Policy Watch that granting Hannah-Jones tenure “is a very political thing” and “if this was going to happen, this was the way to get it done,” despite being “not a solution that is going to please everyone.” But Times editors argued that the board’s decision reflects an interest in preserving the kind of nationalistic understanding of history that Hannah-Jones has called into question. “Nikole’s journalism, whether she’s writing about school segregation or American history, has always been bold, unflinching and dedicated to telling uncomfortable truths that some people just don’t want to hear,” Times Magazine editor Jake Silverstein said. “It doesn’t always make her popular, but it’s part of why hers is a necessary voice.” Her work, said executive editor Dean Baquet, “has helped change the national conversation about race.”
Hannah-Jones herself stayed quiet on Twitter as the news broke Wednesday, only breaking her silence just after 8 p.m. to say, “I’ve been staying off of here today, but just know I see you all and I am grateful.”
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