The trustees of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill reversed their denial of tenure to Black journalist Nikole Hanna-Jones. She hailed the decision as a victory for academic freedom for black writers. Hanna-Jones created the 1619 project at the New York Times, causing concerns among conservatives at UNC that the journalism school would become too associated with the project. (The News Observer, June 30, 2021, by Kate Murphy and Martha Quillin)
Hannah-Jones recently refused the UNC tenure offer to take a position at Howard University. Although it was her intent to return home to North Carolina, she was discouraged by the opposition to her tenure, in her mind, discriminatory against her views, race and gender. At Howard, she will found a new Center for Journalism and Democracy. (CNN, July 6, 2021, by Leah Asmelash)