Journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones accepts a Peabody Award in May 2016. Credit: Getty Images for Peabody Awards After Contentious Debate, UNC Grants Tenure To Nikole Hannah-Jones By Updated June 30, 2021 at 8:45 PM ET Trustees for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill voted Wednesday afternoon at a closed session to give tenure to star New York Times writer Nikole Hannah-Jones several months after refusing to consider her proposed tenure. The case inspired a bruising debate over race, journalism and academic freedom. It led both to national headlines and anger and distress among many Black faculty members and students at UNC. Some professors there have publicly said they were reconsidering their willingness to remain at the university over the journalist's treatment.