Doug Coombe
Police respond to an antiwar demonstration at the University of Michigan Museum of Art on May 3.
The University of Michigan has fired a full-time employee and suspended four others from campus jobs over their alleged involvement in a pro-Palestinian protest, according to the TAHRIR Coalition, a group that has called for divestment from Israel.
The university has not commented publicly on the actions, but the terminations and suspensions were disclosed by the coalition in a news release Monday.
TAHRIR says five people, including three current students and two recent graduates, were informed last week that they had been suspended from campus employment after university officials reviewed police reports and body camera footage related to the May 3, 2024 protest. One of them, a full-time staff member at the university’s International Institute, was fired on April 11, according to TAHRIR.
The protest drew about 200 demonstrators to the University of Michigan Museum of Art in May 2024, where university regents were holding a meeting. Protesters called on the university to divest its $6 billion in endowment funds from companies tied to Israel, citing the ongoing attacks in Gaza. Campus police clashed with demonstrators and used pepper spray to disperse the crowd.
Prosecutors declined to file charges against protesters from that event.
TAHRIR alleges the fired employee was terminated, even though the protest occurred before their hiring date and that no concerns were raised during their background check. The group also says the employees’ supervisors and union representatives supported their continued employment.
University of Michigan President Santa Ono has faced mounting criticism for his administration’s handling of demonstrations against Israel’s attacks on Palestinians. During a panel discussion in March at an Anti-Defamation League conference, Ono said he personally intervened to stop the Central Student Government from voting on a resolution to divest from Israel-linked institutions and that the board of regents responded to boycotts by investing “even more.”
In September, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel charged nine people for their role in a pro-Palestinian encampment on the university’s Diag. Her office declined to file charges for protests at the UMMA or Hill Auditorium. Nessel, the first Jewish person to serve as attorney general in Michigan, was booed at the Michigan Democratic Convention in Detroit last month.
Over the past year, civil rights groups have accused the university of silencing dissent. The ACLU filed a lawsuit on behalf of students banned from campus after participating in protests, and a separate federal lawsuit alleges the university violated students’ constitutional rights to free speech and due process.
TAHRIR says the university’s latest actions are part of a broader pattern of retaliation and urged the university to end disciplinary action tied to protests.
Metro Times could not immediately reach the university of comment.
