UNC Officials Award Tenure to Journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones

 

Officials at the University of North Carolina at Chapel¹ Hill, UNC, approved tenure² for Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones. The decision came after weeks of tension and protest at the school and around the country.

Tenure guarantees lifetime employment at a college or university. It can offer protection to professors who express their political and cultural opinions publicly.

UNC Board of Trustees voted 9-4 to award tenure at a special meeting Wednesday. Part of the meeting was closed to the public, which caused protests by supporters of Hannah-Jones.

"Today we took another important step in creating an even better university," Gene³ Davis, a member of the board, said after the vote was announced. "We welcome Nikole Hannah-Jones back to Chapel Hill."

Davis said that by awarding tenure to Hannah-Jones, UNC was showing its commitment to the university's highest values of free speech and "diversity of all types, including viewpoint diversity."

Hannah-Jones has won important awards for her reporting, including the Pulitzer Prize for her work on The New York Times' 1619 Project. The project reported on America's history of slavery.

The university had announced in April that it had hired Hannah-Jones. It offered her a five-year contract to lead the Race and Investigation⁴ Journalism⁵ program at the school. The leadership position usually comes with tenure but it was not offered to Hannah-Jones.

Last week, Hannah-Jones said she would not report for work unless she was awarded tenure. Officials then called the meeting to discuss the situation after weeks of protests.

Fight for tenure

Hannah-Jones said in a statement Wednesday evening that she was honored and grateful for the support she received in her fight for tenure.

She said that receiving tenure is about more than just her. The fight, she said, was about guaranteeing the "journalistic and academic freedom of Black writers, researchers, teachers, and students."

It is unclear if Hannah-Jones will now accept the position at UNC. She said she needs to "process" the events and decide on the "best way forward." Her statement was published on the website of the NAACP, a rights organization for African Americans.

After the vote, university official Ralph W. Meekins Sr., released a statement welcoming Hannah-Jones to the university.

"I strongly believe that she has the right to express her ideas...here at this great university," Meekins said.

Why was tenure not offered?

Before Wednesday, the school had little to say about why tenure was not offered, but it later revealed that an important donor⁶ had questioned her journalism work.

Walter Hussman is a wealthy, Arkansas newspaper publisher and donor to the journalism school. He said he had questioned university officials about her work, which he called "contentious⁷" and "controversial." Officials then stopped the tenure process.

In a text message after Hannah-Jones was awarded tenure, Hussman said, "I look forward to meeting her and discussing journalism."

Hannah-Jones' tenure request also had been stopped earlier in the year when school officials questioned her academic background and teaching abilities.

The entire process brought a lot of criticism within the university. It came especially from those who say the school has not answered questions about the way it treats Black professors and students.

Susan King is the head of the UNC journalism school.

"Hannah-Jones will make our school better with her presence," she said in a statement.

Words in This Story

academic – adj. relating to schools, universities and education

diversity – n. the quality or state of having many different forms, types, ideas, etc.

viewpoint – n. a way of looking at or thinking about something

journalism – n. the activity or job of collecting, writing, and editing news stories for newspapers, magazines, television, or radio

grateful – adj. feeling or showing thanks

contentious – adj. likely to cause people to argue or disagree

controversial – adj. relating to or causing much discussion, disagreement, or argument

1 chapel   

n.小教堂，殡仪馆

参考例句：

• The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
• She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午，她在小教堂的演出，可以说是登峰造极。

2 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

3 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

4 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

5 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。

6 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

7 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。