Satisfy professor, initially, with tenure (6)
I believe the answer is:
please
'satisfy' is the definition.
(pleasing is a kind of satisfying)
'professor initially with tenure' is the wordplay.
'initially' suggests taking the first letters.
'with' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'tenure' becomes 'lease' (I've seen this before).
The initial letter of 'professor' is 'p'.
'p'+'lease'='PLEASE'
(Other definitions for please that I've seen before include "Delight; amuse" , "Make happy or glad" , "Would you mind" , "Polite request - make someone happy" , "cheer up" .)