University of Michigan staffer fired for protesting a year earlier, while still a student

When 21-year-old Zainab Hakim landed a full-time staff position at the University of Michigan in October last year, she was delighted.

After all, she had spent her undergraduate years there, and just five months earlier earned a Bachelor of Arts in History of Art, Women’s and Gender Studies, and a minor in Islamic Studies. 

It felt like a second home.

"I really liked my office. I enjoyed it," she told Middle East Eye. 

But last week, just six months after starting the job, Hakim was suspended and, a few days later, fired altogether for what the University of Michigan described as a violation of university policy related to her involvement in pro-Palestine protests one year ago - when she was still a student.

"I didn't anticipate it. Like, whatsoever. I was very surprised," she said. 

The event in question took place on 3 May 2024, at the height of the nationwide student protests and encampments in support of Gaza and calling for divestment from Israeli-linked companies. 

The University of Michigan was no different.

In her capacity as a student, Hakim had linked hands with other protesters outside the University of Michigan Museum of Art and chanted slogans for Palestine, she told MEE. 

A member of the Board of Regents, which oversees the educational activities of the institution, happened to walk by the encampment that day, heading to the museum, Hakim said. Spotting him, it "kind of sparked like an impromptu protest", Hakim explained. 

At that point, students working on Palestinian issues had been asking to meet with the Regents for years but to no avail, she added. 

When law enforcement arrived, Hakim told MEE she was "complying with police orders".

However, the University of Michigan has suggested she was a public safety threat. 

"During a private event, protesters interfered with law enforcement’s ability to provide invitees safe and secure entry and exit from the premises," the suspension letter sent to Hakim and shared with MEE, reads.

"Despite law enforcement presence at the doors and around the building, and repeated instructions to refrain from obstructing their efforts, it appears that you did not comply and you interfered with law enforcement actions," Amy Grier, associate director of university human resources, wrote. 

That assessment, Grier added, was based on the combination of an internal security report, as well as "video evidence".

Hakim, however, said she stands by what the footage shows. 

"They are trying to paint a peaceful expression of First Amendment rights as violent in order to repress the movement," she told MEE. 

"In the police report... the only time I'm mentioned is when it says that 'Zainab Hakim was chanting with a megaphone. We approached her and we told her to give us the megaphone. And she complied,'" Hakim said.

"I guess the police are trying to make this claim that the noise that we make with the megaphones is like, harmful to their ears, and that is a form of violence." 

The university shared the video with Hakim, but MEE was not able to see the footage and verify either account of the incident. 

Full disclosure

The suspension letter came from central HR, not the human resources department within the School of Literature, Science, and the Arts, where Hakim worked. 

Hakim's colleagues, she said, were both blindsided and angry because "from a procedural standpoint, [central HR] totally went above [their] heads".

Hakim was given the chance to have one meeting with Grier, during which she was only allowed to be accompanied by a union representative and not her lawyer. 

That union representative was not allowed to speak, Hakim recalled, and the meeting ended after 15 minutes. 

"At that point, it's very, very clear that nothing I could have said would have made any difference," she said. 

Three days later, Hakim was fired. 

"It's just sort of like them playing judge, jury and executioner." 

Hakim was hired as an academic programme specialist at the Center for South Asian Studies, where she managed the logistics and budgets for conferences, visiting scholars, and outreach programmes, among other events. 

It was no secret that a few months earlier, she had participated in pro-Palestine protests. 

"When they hired me, they did a background check. I talked really plainly about the encampment in my interview, and in fact, they were like, 'Your financial experience that you gained in the encampment is a big part of the reason why we hired you'," Hakim described to MEE. 

"That ended up being very relevant for the job." 

Timing

MEE reached out to the University of Michigan to ask why Hakim was deemed a public safety threat and fired an entire year after the encampments died down, given she had disclosed her participation before her hiring.

'I don't regret trying to do the right thing'

- Zainab Hakim, former University of Michigan staffer

"The university does not comment on personnel matters," Brian Taylor, the communications manager for the office of public affairs, said. 

Hakim told MEE the university wanted the state to charge several students for their roles in the protests last year.

In September, Michigan attorney general Dana Nessel charged 11 students and alumni for what she described as "violent and criminal behaviour" in setting up the encampments. 

For Hakim's part, "clearly there was no legal basis for any... formal charges, and that's why now [the University of Michigan] is trying to do shady internal university processes to get back at us".

The "us" she referred to are the four other students who were terminated from campus jobs last week, also for protest participation a year ago. 

Academic institutions across the country are under mounting political and financial pressure from the Trump administration to effectively get rid of students and faculty who are vocally pro-Palestine. 

When asked if the political climate played into the timing of her ordeal, Hakim did not hesitate.

"The truth is, the university can change any policies, any procedures, at whim, and do whatever they want to anybody, regardless of what you've actually done, regardless of whether you've actually broken the law or even broken the university rule," she told MEE. 

"If you don't stand up to this right now, there's no telling how far it could escalate," she said.

"I don't regret trying to do the right thing."

Hakim is now ineligible for hire at the university, her termination letter said, and she is considering legal action.