U of M: Pro-Palestinian activists make ‘dangerous escalation’ by targeting regents’ homes

Protestor tents and debris on the front lawn of U of M Board of Regents Chair Sarah Hubbard on May 15, 2024. Used with permission.

Story updated at 9:57 p.m.

The homes of University of Michigan regents have become the latest front for protesters demanding the university divest from any companies doing business with Israel, a move university officials call a “dangerous escalation.”

Early Wednesday morning, demonstrators appeared outside the Meridian Township home of Sarah Hubbard, chair of U of M’s Board of Regents, using a bullhorn to chant, “Regent Hubbard, you can’t hide; you are funding genocide,” while placing what officials described as “fake corpses wrapped in bloodied sheets,” as well as stuffed animals covered in red paint, on the porch and front lawn.

In reaction, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued a statement to the Michigan Advance asking for a de-escalation.

“I’m deeply concerned about the rise in acts of intimidation and threats aimed toward students on campus and board members at their homes,” said Whitmer. “The hateful rhetoric we’ve seen on some college campuses across the country is unacceptable, especially when it becomes unsafe for students and faculty or targeted toward communities. I know many in the Arab-American and Jewish communities in Michigan are experiencing an enormous amount of pain, and these acts do not represent the good people in both communities in our state. That’s why we must work together to deescalate and turn down the heat.”

Hubbard told the Advance that she was awakened by the sound of loud chanting and drumming, and that while she was initially confused as to what it was, that changed once she looked out of her window.

“The first thing I saw were three tents on my yard that were exactly the same kind of tents that have been on University of Michigan’s campus on the Diag, so I immediately knew what was going on, saw the protesters and saw what was happening and reached out to the university to alert them to the situation,” she said “We’ve seen a lot of protests. I work in politics. I’ve observed dozens and dozens, if not hundreds, of rallies and protests at the state Capitol, so this is nothing new in my life, but it is new for it to be at my home.”

Hubbard, a Republican who owns Acuitas, a Lansing-based consulting firm, said once Meridian Township Police arrived, the protestors left and that there were no arrests; nor did she file a complaint. However, she later heard from her neighbors, many of whom have small children, that the protest was frightening. 

“They, too, were woken up and wondering what was going on and [it] created a conversation that parents had to have with their young children about how this works, so yeah, that’s a concern. I did get to meet some of my neighbors. I don’t think they all knew the position that I hold, but they do now,” said Hubbard.

Regent Jordan Acker said his home was also targeted by “a masked intruder” who came to the door with a list of demands. 

“In the wake of the 2020 election, public officials here in Michigan were subjected to threats from mobs of election deniers who engaged in similar conduct,” he posted. “No group, on the right or left, should engage in this behavior, and it cannot be tolerated in any free society.”

Acker, a Democrat and an attorney, said the behavior was “unacceptable from any Michigan community member, especially one led by someone who called for the death of people they disagree with. I will not be intimidated.”

Acker was referring to an Instagram post made in March by one of the leaders of the pro-Palestinian movement on the Ann Arbor campus, which stated, “Until my last breath I will utter death to every single individual who supports the Zionist state. Death and more. Death and worse.” It has since been deleted.

A statement by the university condemned the demonstrations at regent’s homes, calling the tactics “a significant and dangerous escalation” of the protests that have been occurring on campus since shortly after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and conducted by the same groups that organized the encampment on the university’s Central Campus Diag.

“Going to an individual’s private residence is intimidating behavior and, in this instance, illegal trespassing,” said the statement. “This kind of conduct is not protected speech; it’s dangerous and unacceptable.”

The protest was led by members of the TAHRIR Coalition,  a student-led alliance of more than 80 organizations “fighting for divestment from Israel and the military-industrial complex and reinvestment in our education and our community.”

On its X account, the group said the protest was taking place on the 76th anniversary of the Nakba, the Arabic word for catastrophe, marking the date in 1948 that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began to either flee or were driven from their homes during the war that followed Israel’s establishment.

“About 2 weeks ago, she laughed at students demanding divestment while she attended a party next door to our encampment,” stated the group, which then threatened to hold Hubbard “accountable for the 35000+ Palestinians martyrs whose death you funded & profited from,” referring to the casualties in Gaza since the conflict between Israel and Hamas broke out on Oct. 7, after a surprise Hamas terrorist attack on southern Israel killed about 1,200 people and resulted in the taking of more than 250 hostages. 

“No matter how many times you call on violent cops to brutalize students, cancel and move your meetings to hide from students … and refuse to admit this university’s and YOUR complicity in genocide, we will continue to protest,” continued the group. “@RegentHubbard, you cannot hide. We demand divestment and will remain relentless in the struggle for a free Palestine.”

Hubbard said the group taped a three-page letter of demands to her front door, which listed a number of demands including divesting from “any and all companies presently, or in the future, investing in and/or profiting from the human rights violations committed by Israel and/or aiding in the apartheid system maintained against Palestinians,” as well as boycotting Israeli institutions and abolish campus policing. 

Hubbard told the Advance that the divestment issue has already been discussed and indirect investments in companies based in Israel are estimated to be less than .1% of the university’s approximately $18 billion endowment.

“Like most Americans do now with 401(k)s, our investments in the endowment are largely in funds, and funds are managed by private managers who are really smart about this stuff and do the research and figure out what the best companies are that are going to have the best return on the dollar, again so that return can go to supporting scholarships on our campus,” she said. “We don’t control that. We hire the fund managers to help us find the best return.”

Hubbard says despite that, she does take the protesters at their word that they truly expect the university to divest, although she believes the issue is really about providing a platform to raise awareness around their concerns. 

“I get that they have a lot of concerns about the war in the Middle East. I have concerns about it too, but the Board of Regents at the University of Michigan is not really going to have an impact on what’s happening in that war, in those disagreements in that region of the world that have been going on for a long time,” said Hubbard.

A statement released Thursday by the group doubled down on those demands.

“As the principle decision making body for university nances, the Regents are unequivocally complicit in the ongoing genocide in Palestine,” it read. “This action comes after three weeks of the Gaza solidarity encampment, during which calls to meet with the Regents have been ignored and even mocked. Their inaction served as an impetus for students to non-violently remind the Regents they are complicit in a brutal genocide. Moving their calls for divestment off campus, students taped a list of demands to the doors of all eight Regents’ homes. The primary demand remains unchanged: complete, immediate divestment from the settler colonial zionist [sic] entity.”

The coalition says that after taping demands to the doors of seven out of the eight regents, they gathered at Hubbard’s to set up what they called, “a visual representation of scenes from the ongoing genocide in Palestine on her front lawn.” 

While Hubbard said the actions on Wednesday have certainly received a lot of attention, it doesn’t appear to her that it has been what they had hoped for.

“I think the attention they’re receiving is largely negative,” she said. “Going to a private home of a public official is crossing a line and no matter what your party is, no matter what your issue is, it’s crossing a line.”

Hubbard said that escalation works two ways and that perhaps what Wednesday’s escalation was meant to do was provoke a reaction.

“I think they are looking for more escalation from us,” she said. “Honestly, I think they’ve been disappointed that they haven’t been able to be highlighted in the national news like their comrades at Columbia and some of these other places.” 

Either way, Hubbard said the incident has made her think about her personal security.

“I certainly have been advised to be worried. So far, this group has been peaceful. They’ve been escalating their voices and their activities, but they have not been dangerous, and I hope it stays that way,” she said, although she added that the university may have “to start applying some accountability to this group.”

When asked what that would look like, Hubbard said that was yet to be determined, but they have seen what some other universities have done across the country. 

“Some universities have gone so far to suspend groups, expel students, all sorts of things,” she said. “We did have a student occupation of the administration building last fall. We’re still hopeful that the Washtenaw County prosecutor will take a closer look at that. There’s a lot of options there. Everything from having more serious discussions about what free speech means on our campus to things that might affect students’ ability to finish their degrees.”

This story was updated with a statement from Gov. Whitmer.

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