People want to argue whether she deserved tenure. That's not how it works. The faculty at the school previously believed an ad executive brought value to their students and hired her as a Knight professor, a position endowed exactly to bring industry people to tenured positions.
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The point of academic freedom isn't for universities to hire and tenure people others like. It's based on faculty evaluation and external reviews. Once political appointees start meddling—at the last minute—based on viewpoints and external campaigns, you get the chilling effect.
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Did anyone have a campaign demanding that UNC not hire an advertising executive as a Knight professor because she didn't have an academic background? People outside of academia getting tenured, especially at professional schools, does happen and isn't against any rules or norms.
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Is tenure the perfect system? Fine, have the broad discussion. I'm not sure I could do what I do in the world without it but, as an academic, I obviously know all the downsides people bring up. Should non-academics *ever* be tenured? Again, fine, as long as applied the same way.
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If you are still wondering, imagine that, just like in 2012, UNC Hussman had now hired another advertising executive with no academic background or PhD as a professor to a Knight Chair in Journalism position. You wouldn't hear about it.
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And all of you now litigating her credentials and viewpoints in my mentions: *you* are the strongest argument for why UNC Hussman faculty may have thought this needed to be a tenured position. If tenure only protected the people who had no detractors, there'd be no reason for it.
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Damn progs and their cancel culture strike again!
Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
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The Knight Chairs are specifically *for* people with journalism backgrounds.https://dkiesow.medium.com/statement-from-the-knight-chairs-in-journalism-to-uncs-board-of-trustees-11023e51560e …
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And also specifically for bringing someone directly into a tenured position, not as a typical tenure-track new hire who is up for review in 5-6 years.
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Queen got rooked out of a Knight Chair
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...and turned into a political pawn.
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