Though UNC’s Hussman School of Journalism recommended decorated and deserving journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones for a tenured professorship in January, it was announced that the University’s Board of Trustees failed to grant it, instead offering her a less notable five-year appointment.

The Proud Alumni group took out a full-spread ad in the News & Observer to add our 1,619 voices to the chorus of outrage over this politically-motivated decision.

We are 1,619 University of North Carolina alumni outraged by the Board of Trustees’ failure to approve a tenured professorship for UNC alumna and founder of The 1619 Project, Nikole Hannah-Jones. Dismissing a list of merits that includes winning a Pulitzer Prize, Peabody Award, and MacArthur “Genius” Grant is an attempt to penalize Nikole Hannah-Jones for her groundbreaking and unvarnished reporting of American history. We demand that the Board of Trustees immediately revisit this matter, grant tenure as recommended by the appropriate faculty, Dean, and Provost, and restore the integrity of our University.

We also set up a GoFundMe to support the organization Nikole Hannah-Jones founded, the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting, which seeks to increase and retain reporters and editors of color in the field of investigative reporting.