LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) — A former University of Michigan diversity officer who once championed campus inclusion now claims she’s the real victim—fired, she says, for sharing her personal views on Israel and Palestine at a conference.

Rachel Dawson, who led UM’s Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives until last year, filed a federal lawsuit this week claiming her December 2024 termination was racist and retaliatory. The kicker: she says she was fired for being Black—even as she held one of the most powerful diversity roles on campus.

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The incident traces back to March, when Dawson spoke with two attendees at an event about antisemitism at UM. According to her lawsuit, the conversation shifted to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, where Dawson expressed that both sides deserve to coexist in the region, as reported by to The Detroit News.  

The attendees disagreed, however—and later accused her of saying, “We don’t work with Jews. They are wealthy and privileged and take care of themselves.”

As it turns out, Dawson denies ever saying that and claims the women fabricated the exchange entirely. 

In Dawson’s own telling, she gave a measured response, saying the University of Michigan “was doing its best to navigate complex issues and combat antisemitism as well as other types of prejudice on campus.” Dawson added that her comments reflected her personal views and were not made on behalf of the University of Michigan.

The Anti-Defamation League then escalated the complaint to university leadership, prompting the University of Michigan to launch an outside investigation. The school hired Covington & Burling, a high-profile Washington, D.C. law firm that also represents the Anti-Defamation League. According to the lawsuit, the firm’s report concluded that Dawson had likely made the statements in question.

Dawson’s supervisor gave her a written warning, but that was quickly tossed out after UM Regent Mark Bernstein called the incident disgusting and said termination was the “only acceptable outcome.” Dawson was fired days later.

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Dawson worked for UM since 2017 and was, until last year, a top figure in the school’s sprawling DEI bureaucracy. 

Now she insists the university violated her free‑speech and civil‑rights, and is now seeking damages, arguing that white colleagues have said worse and kept their jobs. She also says UM targeted her over her involvement in a pro-Palestinian protest, where she served as a liaison between demonstrators and campus police.

Nonetheless, UM has said it will “vigorously defend” its decision.