The UNC Board of Trustees approved tenure for acclaimed journalist and incoming professor Nikole Hannah-Jones on Wednesday during a special meeting. Amid demonstrations in favor of Hannah-Jones outside the Carolina Inn, where the meeting was being held, the Board of Trustees voted 9-4 in favor of granting tenure. Chair Richard Stevens, as well as Trustees Jeff Brown, Ralph Meekins, Chuck Duckett, Munroe Cobey, Kelly Matthews Hopkins, Lamar Richards, Teresa Artis Neal and Gene Davis, voted in favor of the measure. Trustees Dave Boliek, Allie Ray McCullen, John Preyer and Haywood Cochrane voted against the measure. Following the decision, Hannah-Jones released a statement through the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.