Fired UMich admin paid $185,000 before “Wealthy Jews” comments

"Jewish people have no DNA that connects them to the land of Israel”

A diversity official at the University of Michigan Ann-Arbor (UMich) has been terminated from her cushy position at the school after she was accused by two colleagues of antisemitism.

The official — Rachel Dawson, who was the Executive Director of UMich’s Diversity Center until last week — allegedly said that “the university is controlled by wealthy Jews” and that “Jewish people have no DNA that connects them to the land of Israel” during a work conference.

She also allegedly argued that Jewish students don’t need diversity services at UMich because they are “wealthy and privileged” according to documents from her lawyer. Speaking of wealth, taxpayers fund her post to the tune of $185,000 a year.

During her seven years at UMich, it doesn’t appear she created any diversity efforts for Jewish students. In fact, Jewish professor Naomi Klos asked Dawson at a conference if the UMich diversity office helps Jews, and Dawson said no, since “Jewish people are all rich”.

Rachel Dawson/ University of Michigan Ann-Arbor

“They are wealthy and privileged and take care of themselves,” she added.

The ADL of Michigan took up the professor’s case and sent UMich a letter about the incident. UMich then hired the firm Covington & Burling to investigate.

While Covington & Burling stated it was “not possible to determine with certainty whether Ms. Dawson made the exact remarks” due to the lack of recording, the conclusion was that the “weight of the available evidence supports ADL Michigan’s report.”

Dawson plans to sue the school, according to her lawyer. However, the lawyer doesn’t seem to keep her client’s story consistent

“The university has clearly, blatantly violated Ms. Dawson’s First Amendment rights, and we will take appropriate legal action,” lawyer Amanda Ghannman has said.

But in some interviews, Dawson’s lawyer denies that antisemitic remarks were even made. So, which is it—did UMich possibly violate her First Amendment rights, or is she being falsely accused of making antisemitic remarks?

Clearly Dawson did say something, but neither she nor her lawyer responded to a request for clarification.

“It’s a crackdown on free speech anyway you look at it,” her lawyer told Ericka Erickson of All About Ann Arbor. What Dawson did do is actually “try to defend the university against two women's accusations that the university is antisemitic" the lawyer has claimed elsewhere.

According to the WayBack Machine, the fired admin worked in the school’s Office for Academic and Multicultural Initiatives (OMAI), an explicitly anti-colonial, anti-racist, anti-Islamophobia organization. The school deleted her faculty page shortly after the ADL got involved.

“The fights against settler colonialism and anti-blackness will always be inextricably linked. To the land, to the collective, and to the ancestors, we thank you, we thank you, we thank you,” the OMAI homepage reads.

Every year, the OAMI office hosts special graduation dinners and events for minority students. They have special events for Asian, Black, Latina, Middle Eastern, Arab, Middle Eastern students, as well as for Migrant students and those who are the first in their family to attend college

Despite that Jewish students are 14 percent of UMich’s student-body, the 5,000 Jewish students at the school do not get a special graduation. Instead, during this year’s special graduation, students in keffiyehs and holding the Flag of Saudi Arabia were in the crowd.

Students Holding Up the Saudi Arabian Flag at a Middle Eastern Graduation Event that was organized by OAMI

The school has become a flashpoint for antisemitism and diversity issues over the last few years. Announced after Dawson was fired, UMich professors will no longer be required to submit diversity pledges prior to being hired, and the school is banned from soliciting them from future employees. Other colleges have followed suit, as concern over what many on the Right call “woke ideology” or “DEI” grows and unintentionally backfires on disadvantaged groups.

This article was written by Toni Airaksinen, a journalist living in Delray Beach, Florida. If you’d like to stay on top of college antisemitism news, please follow her on Substack, Twitter or Instagram. If you enjoyed this, consider Buying Her a Coffee with a small donation.