ANN ARBOR, MI — The University of Michigan is asking a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit from a former diversity, equity and inclusion administrator three months after she alleged UM violated her civil rights when she was fired in late 2024.
Rachel Dawson, a Black woman, was previously director of UM’s Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives and ousted after the university investigated accusations she made antisemitic comments at a conference earlier in the year.
In its motion, UM alleged it received a “credible report” that Dawson told two women at the conference the university “is controlled by rich Jews,” including “rich donors and Jewish board members” who had power of then-UM President Santa Ono, and that her office didn’t “work with Jews” because they are “wealthy and privileged and take care of themselves.”…