Dean of UNC-Chapel Hill’s journalism school announces that she’s stepping down

Kate Murphy
·3 min read

The dean of UNC-Chapel Hill’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media is stepping down after nearly a decade leading the school.

Susan King announced that this will be her last year as dean in her weekly email newsletter to journalism faculty.

“I believe after 10 years a new dean will bring fresh eyes, additional perspective and new energy to our school,” King wrote.

The news comes on the heels of journalist Nikole-Hannah Jones’s tenure controversy that placed the UNC-CH journalism school in the national spotlight earlier this summer.

King said she never intended to stay on as dean for more than a decade, but plans to return as a tenured faculty member after a leave.

“Media — journalism, public relations and advertising — are in a state of great change,” she wrote, noting that it is not the same world or business that it was in 2012 when she arrived on campus.

As dean and the John Thomas Kerr Distinguished Professor, King helped elevate the school’s journalism and strategic communications programs to be among the best in the country. And she looks forward to continuing to work with UNC-CH students to “prepare them to ignite the public conversation.”

The Nikole Hannah-Jones tenure debate

King recruited Hannah-Jones, who won a Pulitzer prize for The 1619 Project, to be the Knight Chair for Race and Investigative Journalism at UNC-CH. King hoped bringing Hannah-Jones, a UNC-CH alumnus, back to Chapel Hill would be part of her legacy.

However, Hannah-Jones was hired without tenure, which had been granted to previous Knight Chairs at UNC. When the news broke suggesting that conservative politics were behind the decision, UNC-CH students, faculty and alumni organized protests on campus. The issue sparked a debate about academic freedom, race and gender. Hannah-Jones threatened a federal lawsuit against the university.

Ultimately, the campus Board of Trustees voted to offer Hannah-Jones tenure, but she turned down the position to take a similar role at Howard University.

Walter Hussman (center) and his wife, Ben, (right) meet with Susan King, the dean of UNC’s School of Media and Journalism (left). The School of Media and Journalism will now be known as the Hussman School of Journalism and Media following a $25 million gift by alumnus Walter Hussman.
Walter Hussman (center) and his wife, Ben, (right) meet with Susan King, the dean of UNC’s School of Media and Journalism (left). The School of Media and Journalism will now be known as the Hussman School of Journalism and Media following a $25 million gift by alumnus Walter Hussman.

In 2019, King ushered in a $25 million gift from alumnus Walter Hussman Jr. With that donation, the school was named after Hussman and a now-controversial statement of core values is set to be inscribed on a wall inside the building.

That money also gave Hussman influence in the Hannah-Jones case. He shared his concerns about her work with university leaders during the hiring process.

Hussman was also part of the reason Hannah-Jones didn’t join UNC-CH’s faculty. She said she couldn’t work for a school bearing his name.

‘Smooth as possible’ transition sought

The university will launch a search this week, and King will remain in place until a successor is named, she said in the announcement.

“I want the transition to be as smooth as possible, although I realize the pandemic and accreditation may challenge the idea of ‘smooth,’” she wrote.

King said she’ll take a customary leave so that the new dean can “shape the office unhindered.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.