Backtracking on her acceptance of an offer
Although she accepted University of North Carolina’s offer to teach at the journalism school on a fixed, five-year team, Nikole Hannah-Jones said she will not start her job until she’s given full tenure.
The architect of the “1619 Project” made the announcement through her attorneys, in a letter obtained by NC Policy Watch. It is published in full at the bottom of the article.
“According to the letter, Hannah-Jones will not begin her position as Knight Chair in Race and Investigative Journalism on July 1, as scheduled,” the left-leaning organization said. It reported that Hannah-Jones “will not take the position without tenure.”
“The letter makes clear that Hannah-Jones has not withdrawn her application for tenure and does not intend to do so,” Policy Watch said.
PW Exclusive: Nikole Hannah-Jones will not join UNC-Chapel Hill faculty without tenure https://t.co/q4H0Fhkntc via @ncpolicywatch #UNC #HigherEd @UNCHussman #ncga #NC #ncpol #ncgov #NikoleHannahJones
— NC Policy Watch (@NCPolicyWatch) June 22, 2021
Jones “will not join the faculty,” in contradiction to her February 2021 contract, her attorneys said.
The letter said that Jones is “eminently qualified” and listed off a handful of awards the New York Times journalist has won.
Her attorneys allege that the university agreed to vote on her tenure in November, but that vote never happened. Despite not receiving a vote on tenure, Jones still accepted the contractual offer in February “to minimize the monetary damages she incurred” and to minimize “the damage to her reputational standing.”
Because of comments from a major donor, Walter Hussman, for whom the journalism school is named, Jones does not believe there will be a “good faith consideration” of her application for tenure, her attorneys said.
She alleges “viewpoint discrimination” in violation of state and federal law as well as “race and sex discrimination.”
“Under these circumstances, any appointment of Ms. Hannah-Jones without tenure is unacceptable,” the letter concluded.
MORE: New York Times secretly edits ‘1619 Project’
IMAGE: NY Times Events/YouTube
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