JVP Academic Council Statement of Disapproval on Dismissal at the University of Michigan

14 January 2025

Dear President Ono, Provost McCauley, SACUA Chair Modrak, and SACUA members:

The Academic Council of Jewish Voice for Peace is writing to communicate our distress about the determination of the University of Michigan regents and administration to dismiss Ms. Rachel Dawson, its Director of the Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives (part of University of Michigan’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion program).  According to the statement released by University of Michigan’s Director of Public Affairs, “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 judgement.”

However, the information available in The New York Times, Chronicle of Higher Education, and Inside Higher Education indicate that the evidence for the two claims is dubious at best and the procedures used are both shocking and unconscionable. All told, these suggest a smear campaign, violation of First Amendment Rights, and a world-class case of over-reach by a regent.  Ms. Dawson has been accused of making antisemitic remarks due to the “gist” of a conversation at a conference that was reported to the Anti-Defamation League earlier this year and that she has fully rebutted.  The allegation that Ms. Dawson behaved inappropriately at a protest (apparently the one on August 28^th of this year) has been refuted by eye-witness faculty. 

While masquerading as a civil rights organization, the ADL has a long history of fomenting anti-Palestinian, Islamophobic, and anti-Black hate. It advocates for widespread government surveillance of Muslim communities; it has a long history of attacking Black civil right organizations, from its accusation that the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was “racist” to its attacks on the Movement for Black Lives; in the 1970s and 1980s, it illegally infiltrated organizations who were fighting South African apartheid; it has organized blacklists of Arab American organizations and activists, in addition to illegally spying on them as well. And despite its protestations to the contrary, it has steadily defamed advocacy for Palestinian freedom and equality as “antisemitic.” All the while, the ADL has heaped praise on antisemites and white supremacists, notably Elon Musk and Donald Trump. Finally, by mis-counting criticisms of Israel and Israel’s genocide as acts of “antisemitism,” the ADL is a primary source for the erroneous notion of a rapid and dangerous rise of antisemitism on the left — thus supporting the genocide against Palestinians and undermining the struggle against actual antisemitism.

After the ADL — which in our view is hardly a reliable judge in matters determining antisemitism — reported its claims in a letter to University of Michigan, an outside law firm (which has worked for the ADL) was hired to investigate.  What is critical is that it found that the remarks alleged to Ms. Dawson could not be verified.  It is reported that University of Michigan officials then declined to fire Ms. Dawson at first, but that Regent Bernstein insisted on it.

Anyone who reads the national press knows that we are living in a period when there is pressure from far right forces to cut back if not dismantle the kind of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs with which Ms. Dawson is associated with  the University of Michigan.  Moreover, it is becoming common place to link this campaign with exaggerated and often false claims about antisemitism on campuses that are allegedly expressed by students, faculty, and staff protesting for divestment of university funds from the Israeli state and an end to United States support of Israel’s genocidal assault against the Palestinian people.” In this context it is not surprising for people to “hear” things that are not actually said, based on their own assumptions,  definitions, and biases. It is also commonplace for people to misread and misinterpret behavior of protestors for the same reason. We urge the University of Michigan to reject the superficial evidence that has been presented for such serious charges against Ms. Dawson and reinstate her at once with an apology.

Sincerely, 

Academic Council, Jewish Voice for Peace

JVP is a national, grassroots organization working towards Palestinian freedom and Judaism beyond Zionism. With roughly 750,000 members, supporters, and participants in the last year, JVP is the largest such organization in the world. The Academic Council is a network of scholars within JVP with a shared commitment to JVP’s core values.