University of Michigan DEI administrator fired over alleged antisemitic comments plans to take legal action, attorney says

By Taylor Romine and Dalia Faheid, CNN

(CNN) — An administrator with the diversity, equity and inclusion office at the University of Michigan was fired Tuesday after she was accused of making antisemitic remarks – and now she plans to pursue legal action against the school, her attorney said.

Rachel Dawson, who served as director of the university’s Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives, was accused of saying, “The university is controlled by wealthy Jews” during a conversation with two professors at an academic conference on diversity and equity in late March, according to documents obtained by CNN.

Dawson was also accused of saying, “We don’t work with Jews. They are wealthy and privileged and take care of themselves” and that “Jewish people have ‘no genetic DNA’ that would connect them to the land of Israel,” according to the documents.

Dawson’s lawyer Amanda Ghannam denied that she made those statements or any antisemitic comments. Before she was fired this week, Dawson had received a written warning on October 15, and was placed on leave a little over two weeks later when the warning was revoked, Ghannam told CNN Thursday. Ghannam said she will take “appropriate legal action” for what she alleges is a violation of Dawson’s constitutional rights as a public employee.

“The law is extremely clear that public employees are protected by their First Amendment rights,” Ghannam said.

A university spokeswoman declined to confirm on Thursday whether Dawson had been fired, saying that the university would not comment on personnel matters, the New York Times reported. CNN has reached out to the University of Michigan for comment.

The incident comes after months of escalating tensions between the university’s administration and pro-Palestinian students who have demanded leaders divest from Israel. Days ago, the home of a Jewish member of the university’s Board of Regents was vandalized with pro-Palestinian graffiti. It also comes as the school faces backlash from students and faculty over planned cuts to its diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

Since October 2023, Dawson had led an office that provides resources and support to underrepresented students of diverse backgrounds. Before holding that role, Dawson had worked at the university for six years as managing director of the university’s academic medical center.

Spurred by an August letter from the Anti-Defamation League of Michigan outlining the allegations, the university called on outside law firm Covington & Burling LLP to conduct an investigation. The Los Angeles law firm had previously worked with the ADL, including to provide pro bono legal assistance to parents whose children are experiencing antisemitism in California schools.

“It is not possible to determine with certainty whether Ms. Dawson made the exact remarks attributed to her in the ADL Michigan letter, because there is no recording of the conversation and no witness other than the reporting parties and the subject of the investigation,” the law firm’s September 25 memorandum summarizing the investigation said.

The memo concluded, however, that “the weight of the available evidence supports ADL Michigan’s report,” which claimed that Dawson made “deeply troubling and blatantly antisemitic comments.”

Professors and DEI official provide conflicting accounts

The allegations stemmed from a conversation that Dawson had on March 23 with two professors as they attended a diversity, equity and student success conference hosted by the American Association of Colleges and Universities in Philadelphia.

Loyola University New Orleans professor Naomi Yavneh Klos and an assistant professor of ethnic studies – who was not named and whose affiliation was not revealed – said they approached Dawson because they heard about the “negative experience” of a Jewish University of Michigan student, according to the Covington & Burling memo.

Klos asked Dawson whether her office works with Jewish students, and she responded that her office did not work with Jewish students because they’re privileged and did not need assistance from the DEI team, according to Klos’ account. The other professor stated that the conversation left her “practically shaking,” the memo said.

Two days later, Klos texted a friend who works at the ADL, saying: “She told me their policy is to wait for groups to reach out to them and she doesn’t work with the Jews because they are all wealthy and privileged and take care of themselves,” according to the memo. Her friend advised her to file an incident report with the ADL.

“DEI offices have an obligation to serve students facing challenges based on their identities, including Jewish students, many of whom have faced harassment, exclusion, discriminatory comments, and even violence after October 7th,” Klos told CNN on Friday. She said Dawson told her “something along the lines that we all know” Jews have no ancestral relationship to Israel.

Klos declined to further comment about Dawson’s response to the allegations, saying Loyola University asked her to refrain from discussing the incident.

Dawson, on the other hand, provided a different account of the conversation she had with the two professors. Ghannam, her attorney, denied that Dawson said any of the remarks she was accused of, including that Jews had no ancestral claim to Israel. Ghannam said the topic of conversation came up when Dawson was asked by the women if she knew the history of the region, and Dawson responded she believed multiple groups of people have origins in the region, Ghannam said.

The university’s handling of the allegations “sets a dangerous precedent,” Ghannam said, adding that it’s unprecedented for the school to hire an external investigator for a lower level administrator instead of addressing it with her direct supervisor and conducting a traditional human resources process. She said the law firm’s investigation “leaves out important context,” including that Dawson was responding to questions and framing from the women who approached her.

”My client is a Black woman who was approached by two White women who became visibly angry with her when she didn’t agree with them,” Ghannam said. “The university decided to take the side of the two women over a beloved leader in the community who has a long history of serving all students.”

The university is grappling with a series of reports of Jewish people being targeted. On Monday, the sound of shattering glass jolted Board of Regents member Jordan Acker from his sleep just after 2 a.m., he told CNN. He went downstairs to find his front windows had been smashed and his wife’s car vandalized with the messages “Divest” and “Free Palestine.” The incident marks the third time Acker has been targeted since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

The campus is also facing scrutiny over potential rollbacks in diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, with both students and faculty members protesting last week before a Board of Regents meeting.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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