Princeton Lauds a Nobel Winner, but Didn't Give Her Tenure

University hails former professor Anne Carson, notes that she taught classics in the 1980s Princeton is hailing one of its most famous onetime instructors—and getting slammed for not keeping her. Anne Carson, the Canadian poet and essayist who just won the Nobel Prize in Literature, taught classics at Princeton in the 1980s but was denied tenure there, reports the New York Times , which calls her "the Nobel laureate who got away." After the Nobel announcement Thursday, the university and its classics department posted public congratulations and noted Carson's ties to campus , prompting critics on social media to highlight that Carson hadn't been granted a permanent post.

"Good job granting her tenure!" one commenter wrote, while an alumnus lamented missing the chance to study with her, saying, "She could teach 'Translating the Phone Book' and I'd have taken it." Princeton declined to discuss the backlash or the specifics of her tenure case, citing policy, and Carson's agent did not respond to requests for comment.