University of Michigan fires top DEI officer, cites poor judgment

Marnie Muñoz and Myesha Johnson, The Detroit News on Dec 15, 2024

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University of Michigan administrators have fired a top diversity, equity and inclusion officer for actions that represented "extremely poor" judgment, a UM representative confirmed.

Rachel Dawson was the director of the university's Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives.

"Ms. Dawson was fired by the Provost because her behavior as a university representative at a conference and during an on-campus protest was inconsistent with her job responsibilities, including leading a multicultural office charged with supporting all students, and represented extremely poor judgment," wrote Kay Jarvis, UM's director of public affairs, in an email.

According to the New York Times, Dawson was reported to have made antisemitic comments in a conversation at a conference in March. She allegedly said the university was “controlled by wealthy Jews,” according to documents obtained by The New York Times through a freedom of information request.

Her lawyer, Amanda Ghannam, according to the report, said she did not make antisemitic comments and planned to sue the school.

Dawson was also accused of saying that 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,” according to the documents, which were part of a complaint from the Anti-Defamation League of Michigan.

Ghannam did not respond to requests for comment from The News. Jarvis also did not respond to a request for further comment.

Dawson's firing comes just over a week after school officials announced UM would no longer use diversity statements in faculty hiring, promotion or tenure. Provost Laurie McCauley announced the decision based on a recommendation from a UM faculty working group.

UM regents are also considering changes to the university's DEI initiatives, but they emphasized during they would not cut programs benefiting students, such as free tuition and college preparation programs.

The decision makes obsolete former diversity statements that required of faculty job candidates to explain what experiences they would bring to the university along with how their scholarship and teaching would advance diversity, for example.

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