Considered from NPR news. Nicole Hannah Jones has a Pulitzer Prize and a MacArthur genius grant. She also reportedly had the enthusiastic support of the faculty at the University of North Carolina Journalism School. But she will not be receiving a tenured position there at her alma mater. The reason, according to NC Policy watch is political pressure that conservative groups put on the very highest levels of university governance. So Kelly and Health report this story for NC Policy Watch and joins us now. Good to have you here? Thank you Explain what the objection is and who it's coming from. Well, Nicole headed Schoen's of the course for career has done a terrific amount of reporting about race in America. As part of this, she conceived the 16 19 project, which has been incredibly controversial among conservatives. Um and thistles led to some real trepidation among conservatives, including elected Republicans in this state and sort of groups in the state as to whether we should be a professor at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. Your reporting establishes that there was widespread faculty support for her higher, including from the school's chancellor, is it common to see a university, its highest level of management exert so much say in a single professor being hired on a tenure track? The board of trustees has the final approval on on on approval of tenure. This is not a tenure track position. This is a tenured position. It's a knight chair. And, um, but it is unusual for, uh, candidate to get All the way through the process with this level of support and support of the chancellor and then to find it not happening being quite this way, which is that the board didn't even folk. On This tenure would not be proved, and therefore they would be tire her as a contract employee for five years if they wanted to hire it all. The board of trustees also spoke publicly about their decision today. Here's Chair Richard Stevens in his communication of the provost, Krusty Ducat, Ask questions regarding the chin you candidacy. Nicole Hannah Jones suggested more time and postpone the review to consider those questions. Is it so? What he seems to be saying here is that this is a postponement, not an outright denial of 10 year. Can you just help us understand what he is saying here? He's saying that one of the members of the board asked for more time to review her to vet her and that before that could happen before they got more time. And postponed this. The dean of the journalism school went ahead and hired her under a five year contract, which essentially put it into the tenured debate. It didn't go any farther at the board of trustees level because it didn't need to. Somebody hired under five year contract doesn't need to be approved by the board of trustees. That is that contradicts the account of the dean end of people who are involved in the direct negotiations. And just in a sentence or two has Nicole Hannah Jones herself said anything about this. She's been very quiet this week on Twitter. She just said to people who have been supporting her that she's watching and she sees all of them. And she appreciates it. Joe Killian is an investigative reporter for NC Policy Watch. Thank you. Thank you. You're listening to.