Nikole Hannah-Jones tells UNC "Thanks, but no thanks"

[StarfishSaver]

She got her tenure offer. And then turned them down.

Good for you, sister! Take your Pulitzer and go where you're respected and appreciated.

Nikole Hannah-Jones, Ta-Nehisi Coates to join Howard University faculty

Journalists Nikole Hannah-Jones and Ta-Nehisi Coates are joining Howard University’s faculty, school officials announced Tuesday in a major recruiting victory for the private institution in the nation’s capital.

The surprising development came less than a week after trustees for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill voted to award tenure to Hannah-Jones. Initially, the public university hired her as a professor without the job-protection status. But its board of trustees approved tenure for her on Wednesday, after faculty and students at Chapel Hill protested that she had been mistreated.
...
Now Hannah-Jones will have tenure at Howard in the new position of Knight Chair in Race and Journalism, starting this summer at the historically Black university in Washington.

“I am so incredibly honored to be joining one of the most important and storied educational institutions in our country … ” Hannah-Jones said in a statement. “One of my few regrets is that I did not attend Howard as an undergraduate, and so coming here to teach fulfills a dream I have long carried.”

Hannah-Jones will also found a Center for Journalism and Democracy at Howard. She said it will aim to train journalism students from historically Black schools to “accurately and urgently [cover] the challenges of our democracy with a clarity, skepticism, rigor and historical dexterity that is too often missing from today’s journalism.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2021/07/06/howard-nikole-hannah-jones-tanehisi-coates/

[WhiskeyGrinder]

1. I couldn't imagine her taking that position at UNC. Good for her.

[StarfishSaver]

2. But I love that she waited until they offered her tenure and THEN walked away

Sweet!

[WhiskeyGrinder]

3. Yep -- she played it beautifully!

[mountain grammy]

20. Yes, me too!

[Ilsa]

21. It's a lovely "FU" without being undiplomatic. nt

[niyad]

4. Excellent

[nuxvomica]

5. Big loss for UNC

This part of the article was interesting:

Walter E. Hussman Jr., an Arkansas newspaper publisher and major UNC donor for whom the journalism school is named, raised questions about hiring Hannah-Jones, according to the news site the Assembly. Hussman denied influencing the school and said he did not threaten to withhold any donations.

Of course he influenced the decision! He's a major donor and "raised questions." You don't have to explicitly threaten in that situation. What did he expect would happen?

[Wounded Bear]

7. "Nice little school you have there. It would be a shame if you gave tenure to the wrong person."

Ms Hanna-Jones will be better off at an institution that appreciates her talents and work.

[nuxvomica]

23. Classic way rich people and mob bosses escape impunity

As the nuns always said in grade school, "A word to the wise is sufficient." We'll see more of this in other areas *cough*Weisselberg*cough* in the coming days, weeks and months.

[Ocelot II]

6. Ha! Good for her!

[Bettie]

8. Good.

Maybe they will think before reacting if something like this comes up again.

[Tommymac]

9. I bled Carolina Blue for many decades. I attended Hippy Hill. But Koch's fucked it all up

I was there in the 1970's when the fledgling 'Young Rethuglican' chapter started gaining popularity. Didn't realize that was the beginning of the end for a great institution of learning.

UNC/CH can bite my liberal ass now - I give all my $$$ to real institutions of learning - not conservative controlled shams like UNC has become.

Go anyone but Heels.

[bucolic_frolic]

10. All that dithering let the prize get away

[hlthe2b]

11. Arguably they will be truly lauded at Howard, but far less "NEEDED" than at UNC

I certainly don't blame her for turning down the offer given what has transpired, but it is regrettable that UNC will not benefit from much-needed new perspectives.

Still, good for them both.

[StarfishSaver]

12. They will be just as needed as at UNC

Different needs of different people

Hannah-Jones will provide great benefit to and enrich the knowledge and lives of the students at Howard. That is much needed and will be valued.

UNC has different needs that but they don't seem to think they do. Maybe they'll figure it out, but they'll have to get someone other than Hannah-Jones to meet them. There are plenty of excellent people out there. Maybe they'll get their heads out of their arses, find one (or a few), and treat them with more respect than they treated her. If so, this will all be to their benefit.

Or they could do what institutions often do in this situation. Shrug and say "We tried to hire a Black professor, but she went somewhere else. Oh well ... back to business as usual."

[hlthe2b]

13. My comment was limited to the opening of closed minds. Please don't make my sincere comment

what it was NOT intended. Never did I suggest that they would not be fulfilling needs wherever they go.

[StarfishSaver]

16. I understood your point

I was just adding to it.

Sorry if I left the impression I was challenging you!

[hlthe2b]

18. Thanks

[Politicub]

14. Hannah-Jones was a loss for the students of UNC. The opportunity at

Howard sounds amazing, especially the formation of the journalism program.

How the UNC board of Governors handled the issue with tenure is an example of how the right introduces institutional rot. They had the chance to bring on board someone, who led the development of an idea so powerful, that is transforming education at its core. From this perspective, the 1619 project is incredible.

[intheflow]

15. Not to mention, completely proved the thesis of the 1619 Project.

Racism is built into every system in the US and throughout education. The fact that the UNC job was ALWAYS tenured before Hannah-Jones, when it was held by white men, is exactly what CRT actually does address.

[StarfishSaver]

17. Yes!

[Solly Mack]

19. K&R

[DFW]

22. I hope she ends up inspiring the next fifty incarnations of Carl Rowan

Carl was a close friend and contemporary of my dad, which was how I knew him. They died about 2 months apart.