James Thomas, a sociology professor with a history of controversial social media posts, was granted tenure by the IHL Board of Trustees on Thursday.
Thomas’s name was pulled from a list of 77 tenure approvals in Mississippi’s eight public universities, and the decision to approve or deny his tenure was debated in a two-hour closed session. The board said in a statement that it considered “the candidate’s effectiveness in interpersonal relationships” in its decision.
Read more about the decision and Thomas’s history on social media here.
Twitter responded in force last night, with many professors at the university supporting Thomas.