«“I led a search committee last year, when we were trying to hire a historian,” Sturkey said. “I had one of our leading candidates express reservations to me about coming to UNC without tenure. She said she wasn’t sure she could enjoy academic freedom at UNC because of our governing bodies. She was worried she might be denied tenure if she writes about the history of race in America.”»
«Another Board of Trustees member said some of their colleagues are now floating the idea that they should simply wait until July, when new trustees cycle on to replace retiring ones. Those whose terms end include Stevens and Chuck Duckett, chairman of the University Affairs committee, from which Hannah-Jones’s tenure submission never emerged. Duckett has said publicly he had questions about Hannah-Jones’s application, but would not elaborate on what they were.
Without Stevens and Duckett, the board member told Policy Watch, a newly constituted group may be able to look at the issue with fresh eyes.
“I don’t personally think that is workable,” the board member said. “I think this is something we have to deal with sooner rather than later. [Hannah-Jones] is supposed to start on July 1. And every day we don’t deal with this is a poor reflection on us. It is not a ‘Great Day to Be a Tar Heel’.”»
Here, Read This 