The well-respected University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Hussman School of Journalism hired Nikole Hannah-Jones, a New York Times journalist, as a tenured professor, but then reneged on the deal.
Hannah-Jones was the driving force behind the Times’ series “The 1619 Project,” which examined the history of slavery and its impact on America. It won a Pulitzer Prize.
Susan King, dean of the Hussman School of Journalism said Hannah-Jones was supposed to join the school as a tenured professor, “But now it appears that her role as Knight Chair in Race and Investigative Journalism will not be tenured, at least for now. Instead, her position will be a fixed-term Professor of the Practice with the option of being eligible for tenure within five years.”
King also said that she was told that the UNC-CH Board of Trustees was hesitant to give tenure to “someone outside of academia.” King further commented that she was disappointed in the decision and worried about how this might affect the school.
Apparently, as a routine matter, the appointment went to a committee at the university’s Board of Trustees that approves tenure decisions. Several non-academic practicing journalists had been previously approved by the committee for tenure, so the denial of Hannah-Jones was suspect of being racist.
Several conservative publications objected to Hannah-Jones being given tenure. For example, as Tom Jones writes in the “Poynter Report:” the conservative National Review had this headline: “University of North Carolina Disgraces Itself with Latest Faculty Hire.” It used the word “propaganda” to describe the “1619 Project.” The Carolina Partnership for Reform wrote, “This lady is an activist reporter — not a teacher.”
Journalists and academics around the country have trashed the decision as clearly racist and influenced by the conservative (white supremacist) media. Another win by the extremist right.
One of the things that this tenure kerfuffle brings to mind is the whole concept of tenure. Tenure is outmoded and inhibits innovation. Tenure is just like seniority in unions; it rewards doggedness, not performance.
With the advent of the internet, rapidly changing technology and advancing science the courses that are taught in colleges and universities are constantly changing and being updated. What does a university do with a tenured professor of philosophy who teaches a course on Ludwig Wittgenstein that has an average of 11 students (or less) in a class?
Denying Hannah-Jones tenure is outrageous. So is the concept of tenure.
