University DEI administrator faces firing over accusations of anti-semitic remarks: report

A major Midwest university is reportedly mulling firing an administrator who works on diversity initiatives amid accusations she said the school was "controlled by wealthy Jews."

The University of Michigan placed Rachel Dawson, the administrator who's been on the job for about a year, on leave, The New York Times reported Thursday.

She has also been accused of saying Jewish students were "wealthy and privileged" and didn't need diversity services her office provided, as well as proclaiming "Jewish people have no genetic DNA that would connect them to the land of Israel."

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The Times report cited documents as part of a complaint filed by the state chapter of the Anti-Defamation League. The comments were said to have been made during a private conversation in March during a conference.

Dawson's lawyer Amanda Ghannam denied she made anti-semitic comments and said: "It’s deeply troubling that they would escalate the situation to termination based on one conversation in somebody’s private capacity."

The accusations also come as the university plans to scale back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, joining other large organizations to do so following the election of Donald Trump to the presidency.