UNC’s student body president requests trustee vote on Nikole Hannah-Jones tenure
UNC-Chapel Hill Student Body President Lamar Richards, who is also a member of the campus Board of Trustees, has formally requested a special board meeting to discuss and take action on the tenure application of Nikole Hannah-Jones.
Richards said Wednesday he’s making this petition “for the sake of our University’s future, not as the sole corrective measure for inclusion efforts on campus but as the first step to ignite this critical phase of bolstering inclusion for Carolina.”
He asked that the meeting be held by or on June 30.
Hannah-Jones was scheduled to start her job as the Knight Chair in Race and Investigative Journalism at UNC-CH on July 1, but her legal team notified the university she will not join the faculty unless she has tenure. The board’s failure to give her tenure has prompted protests and nationwide criticism that the decision was based on race, politics and her work on The 1619 Project.
For weeks, her tenure appointment has been in the hands of trustees who vote on and approve tenure for faculty. Board Chair Richard Stevens has not called a special meeting, despite public pressure. He could not be immediately reached for comment Wednesday.
Richards’ request could initiate a special meeting if at least six members of the board make formal written requests, according to UNC-CH policy. Board Secretary Teresa Artis Neal or Assistant Secretary Clayton Somers must call a special meeting to be held within 10 days of receipt of the sixth letter.
Richards said he was the first board member to submit this request. He said he’s aware of other petitions that have been submitted or are being submitted but did not say how many or from whom.
Campus President’s Council meeting
Richards’ letter came hours before he hosted the inaugural Campus President’s Council meeting virtually Wednesday evening to discuss ongoing university issues. The group of student leaders meets monthly to discuss issues across campus and events or programs in the Carolina community.
UNC-CH Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz was invited to the meeting but did not attend. Guskiewicz and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Amy Johnson met with student leaders earlier in the day to hear about student concerns and morale.
Elliana Alexander, a rising senior and president of the Residence Hall Association, gave a recap of that discussion at the start of the council meeting. She explained how students of color, particularly Black students, feel disrespected and undervalued at Carolina, citing experiences of racism, police presence on campus and inadequate access to affordable, quality food.
The theme of the discussion, Alexander said, was about how student organizations are taking on more burdens than they should with community building, financial help and mental health services to students.
She said students want more transparency from the university about the tenure situation.
Alexander said they walked away with few answers on change moving forward, but Guskiewicz said he’s committed to continuing to learn from students’ experiences whose identities are different from his own.
Throughout the council meeting, student leaders spoke about how the Hannah-Jones tenure situation is just a symptom of a larger problem.
Taliajah “Teddy” Vann, President of UNC’s Black Student Movement, described the impact of the lack of faculty and staff of color and how building that staff, instead of losing them, is the first step to being a more welcoming space for Black students.
“You can’t continually say that this space is for us and expect us to feel like we belong when we don’t get to see educators like us really at all while we’re here,” Vann said.
The student leaders plan to write letters to trustees calling for a special meeting and asking Guskiewicz to be more clear about whether he wants Hannah-Jones at UNC-CH with tenure.
While the meetings, statements and protests are actions student leaders can take, there’s more they want to do than treat the symptoms.
Selina Shi, Director for the UNC Asian American Center Campaign, said she wants to see more institutional change rather than constantly battling with the latest news of what’s come out about UNC.
“But who’s going to spearhead that when we’re dealing with what’s happening at the current moment?” she said.
Students are stakeholders
Throughout the meeting, students shared how they feel like their voices aren’t heard and their experiences don’t matter to campus leaders.
“At this point, we’re in the stage where we have to demand our respect,” Richards said.
He has been vocal about his frustrations with how UNC-CH handles issues related to race and equity, as well as the campus environment for students of color. He’s also demanded that students have a seat at the table when university decisions are made.
“Students are not seen as essential stakeholders,” Richards said.
In his first month on the job as president and student trustee, Richards criticized board members and university leaders over Hannah-Jones not getting tenure. He is discouraging future students, faculty and staff from coming to Carolina. He also played an active role in campus discussions about COVID-19 protocols and is an advocate for student mental health, with a particular focus on Black students.
Richards said he’s gotten some pushback from the chancellor and trustees regarding his letter telling students and faculty of color to look elsewhere.
“I stand 1,000% beside my words,” Richards said at the council meeting.
On Tuesday, Richards tweeted that the Hannah-Jones tenure situation is “not the first instance of the silencing of Black voices” and UNC-CH not supporting Black and underrepresented students. He asked UNC Twitter to share other issues on or around campus affecting those students, for example needing a physical space on campus to build community.
In a Twitter thread Wednesday, Richards reiterated that this is about more than tenure and called on the entire university community supporting Hannah-Jones to do more.
For weeks, professional journalists, scholars and UNC-CH faculty, alumni and students have defended Hannah-Jones and demanded that the board grant her tenure immediately. The national controversy stems from criticism that race, politics and Hannah-Jones’s work on The 1619 Project are behind the board’s decisions. The project, which was published in The New York Times, explores the legacy and history of Black Americans and slavery.
The fight will continue on Friday with a protest organized by the Black Student Movement outside the South Building on campus.
Richards plans to attend the protest and spoke about the power of groups of people gathering behind initiatives and movements.
“Protesting and being there and showing up, that’s how we do this,” Richards said. “One demonstration at a time.”
This story was originally published June 23, 2021 at 2:09 PM with the headline "UNC’s student body president requests trustee vote on Nikole Hannah-Jones tenure."
