Good morning. I'm Naila Boudou. We're here with you on a Saturday with the latest

episode of our special monthly series called Hard Truths, where we examine systemic racism

in the US. Today, how the tenure process in higher education is shutting out academics of color.

Earlier this summer, a story about tenure started making waves outside of university circles.

Pulitzer prize-winning writer and journalist Nicole Hannah Jones was denied tenure at the

University of North Carolina, where she'd been hired in 2021 as the night chair in race and

investigative journalism. Hannah Jones is known for launching the 1619 project with the New

York Times magazine in 2019, aiming to reframe the role of slavery in American history.

Her work has been met with a loud backlash from largely conservative voices.

When the University of North Carolina's Board of Trustees initially blocked her application for

tenure, the highly publicized case laid bare the problematic internal workings of higher education.

This is a story about power and who gets to wield it. But first, let's step back and explain

how the hierarchy in academia works. Faculty members aren't all equal. There's part time and full-time

faculty broken into assistant professors, associate professors, and tenured professors.

Assistant and associate professorships tend to be temporary appointments. A few years here and

there, but tenured professors are permanent and have the freedom to research, teach, and work

at their own pace. Those are the untouchables when it comes in the academy. They're the people who

set the agenda in terms of curriculum, in terms of faculty, governance, teaching, and hiring.

That's Dr. Patricia Matthew. She's an associate professor of English at Montclair State

University, an editor of the book written slash unwritten, diversity in the hidden truths of tenure.

We also wanted to talk to her because Patricia has not only researched the tenure process,

but works with academics of color to prepare their tenure cases. We ask her why diversifying

...