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1619 project founder Nikole Hannah-Jones's denial of tenure at UNC slammed: 'Politicized decision-making'

'The UNC decision to deny tenure to Nikole Hannah Jones is obscene,' tweeted writer Jelani Cobb

Nikole Hannah Jones received considerable support on social media after losing her alma mater's offer for tenure. The controversial founder of the 1619 Project is being considered for a fixed five-year contract as a professor of practice instead.

The change was reported by NC Policy Watch on Wednesday, May 19, following a wave of criticism against her work. The University of North Carolina’s board of trustees chose not to approve Hannah-Jones’ tenure, a career-long appointment, despite support from faculty members, the New York Post reported.

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Dean of the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media, Susan King, reportedly called the decision "disappointing" and said she feared it would create a rather "chilling effect." According to King, Hannah-Jones “represents the best of our alumni and the best of the business.”

“I don’t want to get into a food fight," she continued. "I want to make sure that our students have the opportunity to have someone of her caliber here and to learn from her. I think our faculty do as well. I realize this is a fraught era in the state. When I heard that the chancellor and the provost wanted to move to this, it was better than having a battle royale about the theory of academic freedom," King added.

Liberals on social media also lashed out at the decision. Comedian Kamau Bell mocked UNC's decision in a tweet, "UNC-CH: “What are your qualifications for tenure?” Nikole Hannah-Jones: “I have a MacArthur Fellowship AKA a genius grant.” UNC-CH: “What else?” NHJ: “A Pulitzer. The highest award for journalism.” UNC-Chapel Hill: “Hmmm... Let me talk to my manager & see what I can do.”

New York Times reporter Mara Gay added, "When we say you have to be twice as good and even then it often isn’t enough, this is what we mean." UNC's associate professor Deen Freelon chimed in, "Not sure how they fumbled the most slam-dunk tenure case in our department's history, but here we are." New Yorker writer Jelani Cobb wrote, "The UNC decision to deny tenure to Nikole Hannah Jones is obscene. Tenure exists precisely to protect faculty from this kind of politicized decision-making. We need to compare the credentials of people who *did*get tenure this year if a Pulitzer & MacArthur winner did not."

Critics, however, alleged that politically motivated considerations had helped elevate Hannah-Jones despite the purported issues with her scholarship. Earlier this month, Jay Schalin of the James G Martin Center for Academic Renewal suggested in an op-ed that Hannah-Jones’ appointment marked a shift toward “propaganda” at Hussman. “UNC’s hiring Hannah-Jones signals a degradation of journalistic standards, from one in which ethics and truth are prized to one in which a writer’s work is judged according to whether it serves a preferred political agenda,” he wrote.

Hannah-Jones’ work, according to him, was “less journalism than an outpouring of emotions. The crown jewel of her career – leading a rewriting of the nation’s history called ‘The 1619 Project’ – has been attacked and ridiculed by historians of all stripes and persuasions as unfactual and biased.”

Schalin quoted historian Sean Wilentz in arguing, “To teach children that the American Revolution was fought in part to secure slavery would be giving a fundamental misunderstanding not only of what the American Revolution was all about but what America stood for and has stood for since the Founding.” Similarly, the Center's Shannon Watkins also slammed Hannah-Jones' appointment as an example of "failed university governance," according to the New York Post.