EXCLUSIVE: Nikole Hannah-Jones UNC offer letter lists $180,000 yearly salary

Campus Reform has obtained documents showing that the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill offered Nikole Hannah-Jones a salary of $180,000 to work in the school’s journalism department.

The offer letter was sent to Hannah-Jones on March 2 and states that she will be paid $180,000 to be the Knight Chair in Race and Investigative Journalism and Professor of the Practice in the Hussman School of Journalism and Media. According to the offer letter, she will start working at the university on July 1.

The offer for a full-time position, which is a five-year fixed term contract, is primarily funded by the state and runs through June 30, 2026.

[RELATED: REPORT: UNC journalism school backs off plan to give tenure to author of debunked ‘1619 Project’]

“The academic-year salary for the Knight Chair is $180,000. 33 percent of the academic salary and benefits is provided by the Knight Chair Endowment Grant. The remainder (67 percent) is provided by state funding by the Hussman School of Journalism,” the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill public records office told Campus Reform.

The documents were obtained Thursday via a public records request filed by Campus Reform in April.

According to a report by NC Policy Watch, the UNC Chapel Hill Board of Trustees chose not to take action on a tenure application for Hannah-Jones.

[RELATED: Author of debunked 1619 Project to join UNC as ‘Knight Chair in Race and Investigative Journalism’]

Hannah-Jones, who authored the New York Times “1619 Project” was announced as the Knight Chair in Race and Journalism at UNC’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media on April 26.

Karen Rundlet, journalism director at Knight Foundation, said Hannah-Jones is “an outstanding addition to this group of leaders.”

”The Knight Chairs are highly-respected news leaders who bring insights about journalism and support elevating it in the academy. Their work contributes to keeping communities informed and democracy robust,” she said.

A spokesperson for the Hussman School of Journalism told Campus Reform that “Our incoming Knight Chair’s salary matches that of the salary set for the departing Knight Chair.”

Campus Reform has reached out to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for comment and will update this article accordingly.