Hire Dr. Asher, Follow UNC Rules
Board of Trustees of UNC-Chapel Hill: Malcolm Turner; Ramsey White; Marty Kotis; Brian Allen; Ritch Allison; Patrick Ballantine; Jim Blaine; Rob Bryan; Perrin Jones; Vimal Kolappa; Jennifer Lloyd; Ralph Meekins; Vinay Patel; Devin Duncan.
The Board of Trustees of UNC Chapel Hill voted to deny Dr. Kiran Asher an appointment as Distinguished Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies.
The Trustee “no” vote contradicts university policy and shows disdain and disrespect for everyone working or studying at the university.
We cannot allow Trustees to brazenly ignore campus regulations and norms. We cannot let partisan plans for an anti-intellectual, corporatized university dismantle real work by renowned scholars. Our students, colleagues, and community deserve better.
Add your name to demand the Board of Trustees hire Dr. Asher and are held to account for this inept decision.
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Board of Trustees of UNC-Chapel Hill: Malcolm Turner; Ramsey White; Marty Kotis; Brian Allen; Ritch Allison; Patrick Ballantine; Jim Blaine; Rob Bryan; Perrin Jones; Vimal Kolappa; Jennifer Lloyd; Ralph Meekins; Vinay Patel; Devin Duncan.
From:
[Your Name]
We, the undersigned, demand that the UNC Board of Trustees reverse their vote to deny hiring Dr. Kiran Asher as Distinguished Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies.
Professor Asher was vetted and approved at every stage of faculty review, up to and including the Provost. Trustees who voted against Dr. Asher’s appointment have been silent about their decision. We demand accountability for this violation of UNC's longstanding personnel policies, which state that hiring and tenuring decisions are made by faculty and reviewed by university administrators.
This move by the Trustees is part of a disturbing and damaging pattern. In 2021, they refused to vote on Pulitzer Prize-winning Nikole Hannah-Jones’ appointment to the Hussman School of Media and Journalism. This led to the immediate reputational decline, dropping Chapel Hill from 56th to 69th in rankings. Last year, the Trustees chose to unnecessarily delay tenure decisions for 33 professors, again flouting university policy and norms. We are now ranked 78th.
The Trustees’ refusal to hire Dr. Kiran Asher will further harm Carolina’s reputation as an excellent public university. Why would distinguished faculty consider applying for positions at UNC when the process can be derailed with no explanation? It will also further erode trust in the Trustees among the faculty, staff, students, alumni, and the general public.
In both the Hannah-Jones and tenure cases, considerable outcry and public pressure led the Trustees to overturn their initial decision. Now we demand a reversal of this latest decision and an explanation for why it was made in the first place.