WATCH: Trustees meeting disrupted by UNC students protesting for Nikole Hannah-Jones

After the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill did not grant tenure to Nikole Hannah-Jones, students and community members invaded a Board of Trustees meeting in protest.

As Campus Reform recently reported, the university’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media decided against granting tenure to Hannah-Jones, who was recently hired as the “Knight Chair in Race and Investigative Journalism.”

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

Hannah-Jones won a Pulitzer Prize for the “1619 Project,” which alleges that America was created to protect slavery.

Campus Reform exclusively discovered that the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill offered Hannah-Jones an annual salary of $180,000.

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

After NC Policy Watch reported that the school “changed its plan” to offer Hannah-Jones tenure in response to political pressures, students and faculty joined Chapel Hill community members rallied to support Hannah-Jones.

According to The Daily Tar Heel — a student newspaper at the University of North Carolina — protesters lined the entrance of the Board of Trustees’ morning meeting. Many held signs stating “Support Genius not Ignorance,” “I can give you 1619 reasons why Hannah-Jones should be tenured” and “Nikole Hannah-Jones is all of us #ProtectBlackFaculty.”

[RELATED: University of New Hampshire hosted special graduation celebration for ‘Students of Color’ and other ‘diverse’ identities]

Protesters entered the room as the trustees began their meeting. As The Daily Tar Heel reports, many chanted “shame, shame on you,” while two individuals were removed after singing “we shall overcome.”

Chorus of “We Shall Overcome” breaks out at @unc Board of Trustees meeting pic.twitter.com/ZbllUzXwxy

— Erin Siegal McIntyre (@ESMcIntyre) May 20, 2021

The rally was organized by the Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP and the Carolina Black Caucus.

Our @CHCNAACP Chapel Hill - Carrboro NAACP President and fierce leader Dawna Jones being interviewed and standing in solidarity with Black Women @nhannahjones pic.twitter.com/9jxblXOJgj

— Paris Miller (@ParisMi60763608) May 20, 2021

We, the members of the CBC, stand in protest of this decision and in support of honoring the University’s original commitment to the distinguished, @nhannahjones pic.twitter.com/5no3LQNAUH

— UNC Black Caucus (@UNCBlackCaucus) May 20, 2021

Campus Reform reached out to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for comment; this article will be updated accordingly.

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