Research your candidates and learn about voting in Minnesota

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

The University of Minnesota has paid Holocaust and genocide scholar Raz Segal $250,000 to settle claims stemming from the university’s 2024 decision to withdraw an offer for him to lead its Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies.

The Center for Constitutional Rights, which represented Segal, announced the settlement Aug. 6. The university said the agreement resolves all outstanding claims and includes no admission of liability or wrongdoing by either party.

“The University remains focused on advancing our core educational mission and promoting thoughtful inquiry across all of our centers, departments and programs,” university spokesperson Briana Reenshuler said in a statement.

Segal, an associate professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Stockton University in New Jersey, was offered the University of Minnesota center’s director position and a tenured faculty appointment in June 2024 following a national search.

Days later, two members of the center’s advisory board resigned over the appointment. The Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas also criticized Segal’s selection, citing his writings about Israel’s war in Gaza. Segal has described Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide.

Then-interim university President Jeff Ettinger withdrew the offer on June 10, 2024, five days after it was made.

The Center for Constitutional Rights said university records obtained through a public records request show donors contacted administrators opposing Segal’s hiring and warned that financial support for the university could suffer if he became director. The organization argues the university withdrew Segal’s offer because of his protected speech and violated his First Amendment rights and principles of academic freedom.

The university has not admitted those allegations as part of the settlement.

Education News

NewsPartners

Homepage

MPR News Staff

Author

The Center for Constitutional Rights argues the university withdrew Segal’s offer because of his protected speech and violated his First Amendment rights and principles of academic freedom. The University of Minnesota did not admit wrongdoing.

U of M pays $250,000 settlement to Holocaust scholar whose job offer was withdrawn

Go Deeper.

Like this?

News you can use in your inbox