An administrator who worked on DEI initiatives at the University of Michigan has been fired for allegedly making antisemitic comments at a conference in March.
The administrator, Rachel Dawson, was director of the university’s Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives. She plans to sue the school after her firing, according to the New York Times.
She reportedly made the comments at a diversity conference in Philadelphia, sponsored by the American Association of Colleges and Universities. She is accused of saying Jewish students were “wealthy and privileged” and not in need of her office’s diversity services and that “Jewish people have no genetic DNA that would connect them to the land of Israel.”
She also allegedly said that the university was “controlled by wealthy Jews.”
Dawson’s lawyer, Amanda Ghannam, denied that she said anything antisemitic. Ghannam said Dawson was told by the university that she would have to undergo training. Then, she was fired.
“The university has clearly, blatantly violated Ms. Dawson’s First Amendment rights, and we will take appropriate legal action,” Ghannam said on Thursday.
The university was likely not certain she made the remarks.
An outside law firm hired by the University of Michigan said in a memo that it was “not possible to determine with certainty whether Ms. Dawson made the exact remarks” because “there is no recording of the conversation and no witness other than the reporting parties and the subject of the investigation.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Dawson reportedly said she had pointed out that Jews and Palestinians shared an ancestral connection to the region and not a claim that Jews had no ancestral claim to Israel.
Nevertheless, the university chose to terminate Dawson against the wishes of her superior. “It’s deeply troubling that they would escalate the situation to termination based on one conversation in somebody’s private capacity,” Ghannam said.
This article was originally published at www.washingtonexaminer.com
