New York Times journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, who was behind the controversial 1619 Project, will join the staff of her alma mater, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media, this July.
Hannah-Jones received her master’s degree from the school in 2003. She will remain employed at the New York Times while serving as a Knight Chair in Race and Investigative Journalism at the university.
“This is a full-circle moment for me as I return to the place that launched my career to help launch the careers of other aspiring journalists. I’m so excited to continue mentoring students from the classroom and for all I will learn from them,” Hannah-Jones tweeted on Monday.
This is a full-circle moment for me as I return to the place that launched my career to help launch the careers of other aspiring journalists. I’m so excited to continue mentoring students from the classroom and for all I will learn from them. Oh, and I’ll still be at @nytimes. https://t.co/htCpodmTlE
— Ida Bae Wells (@nhannahjones) April 26, 2021
The journalist said her courses will “examine the big questions about journalism,” but also bring the experience of someone who covered daily beats and faced barriers to breaking into bigger projects.
Hannah-Jones added that she has spent her entire career working on the mentorship of budding journalists and was grateful for the opportunity to give back to North Carolina.
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Susan King, dean of UNC Hussman, said she believes Hannah-Jones will help students move their careers forward.
“This is the story of a leader returning to a place that transformed her life and career trajectory. Giving back is part of Nikole’s DNA, and now one of the most respected investigative journalists in America will be working with our students on projects that will move their careers forward and ignite critically important conversations,” King said.
Dean Baquet, the executive editor of the New York Times, also congratulated Hannah-Jones on the new endeavor, calling her a “born teacher and mentor.”
“Nikole Hannah-Jones is one of the finest journalists of her generation, the rare mix of major investigative reporter and big-voiced writer. But she is much more than that,” Baquet said in a statement. “She is a born teacher and mentor. She demands that the industry hold itself to the highest standard. I cannot imagine anyone better to bridge the worlds of journalism, history and education.”
Hannah-Jones’s creation of the 1619 Project, released in August 2019, reexamines the legacy of slavery in the country’s founding history. The project, which won a Pulitzer Prize, received mixed reactions, specifically by historians who expressed concerns about inaccuracies in its reporting.
Several major school districts said they would introduce the project in its curricula, citing a need to visit history that further reflects the experiences of black people. Some Republican lawmakers, as well as former President Donald Trump, threatened to withhold funding from schools that included the project in its teachings, dubbing it as historical revisionism.
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The Washington Examiner contacted UNC-Chapel Hill for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
