Journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones’ offer of a permanent teaching post was again submitted to the board of trustees of a North Carolina university which faced an uproar last week when her candidacy for tenure was interrupted.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill announced last month that Hannah-Jones – who won the Pulitzer Prize for her work on The New York Times Magazine’s Project 1619, which focused on the American history of slavery – had been offered a knight’s post. Chair of Racial and Investigative Journalism.

But the school has changed its offer from a permanent position to a five-year term as a professor with a review option at the end of that period, as first reported last week by NC Policy Watch.

Board member Chuck Duckett confirmed to The Associated Press on Wednesday that a new warrant offer had been sent to the board. He said he received the new submission on Tuesday from the university’s Appointments, Staff and Tenure Committee, which is made up of full professors.

Duckett said News and the observer from Raleigh that he received Hannah-Jones’ tenure dossier and the list of experiences and background from Tuesday’s submission and that he had never seen them before. Its committee reviews candidates before the full board votes for approval.

Hannah-Jones was on a list of tenure-track candidates proposed by Provost Bob Blouin for consideration at the January 2021 board meeting. Duckett contacted Blouin to ask him questions about Hannah’s candidacy. Jones and asked him to postpone the exam.

Although the offer has been resubmitted, there can be no assurance that there will be a vote or that the directors will address the matter when the board meets on July 14 and 15, after Hannah Jones is ready to begin her job. as a knight. Chair of Racial and Investigative Journalism at UNC-CH.

NC Policy Watch reported on Wednesday that three board members said they expected the issue to go to a full board vote by the end of June. Duckett had no further comment for the AP on Wednesday.

After Hannah-Jones’ candidacy was discontinued, faculty members at the university’s School of Journalism and Media said the move was of particular concern given that it enjoyed the full support of the Dean of the School of Journalism, Susan King. They said the decision also violated established tenure and promotion procedures at UNC-Chapel Hill.

On Monday, the university’s faculty and student leaders asked administrators to formally reconsider Hannah-Jones’ tenure. Susan King, Dean of the School of Journalism and Media, expressed her continued support for Hannah-Jones on Twitter.

“On behalf of our school and our students, I hope the board votes on the @nhannahjones tenure package. I think they will be impressed, as will we, ”King tweeted.

On Tuesday, a letter signed by various professional athletes, writers and academics attacked the university, claiming that administrators “have failed to respect the first-rate values ​​of academic freedom and the free exchange of ideas.”

“We will be cheering Nikole Hannah-Jones when she enters her classroom at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill this fall,” the letter reads. “But we will not turn away from the regrettable circumstances in which she will.”

A two-page ad in The News & Observer featuring 1,619 alumni and students of UNC-Chapel Hill offered support to Hannah-Jones and called on the school to accept the incumbency application.