NSHE Regent's Comments Against Jewish People Fuel Outrage And Safety Concerns

The Globe has received numerous emails from concerned jewish UNLV students and from concerned members of the jewish community in response to the remarks made by Regent Donald Sylvantee McMichael Sr. during a NSHE (Nevada System of Higher Education) board meeting on June 7. McMichael also serves as the Vice Chair of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. At that meeting, the Board of Regents narrowly passed (7-6) a policy amendment to define antisemitism in NSHE’s handbook. McMichael’s dissented.

“We have a small group of people — because they were set upon in World War II — have the notion that they can set themselves up in a higher position than anyone else in the United States…Some Jewish students are frightful to come to campus. Get in line,” McMichael’s said in the recorded audio. “There’s others who have been here a lot longer and who have been treated more poorly, and for you to come and say that, ‘Oh my gosh, just remember, it had been World War II, we had the Holocaust and they were in concentration camps. We still have concentration camps here in the United States,” he said, and then remarkably equated Native American Indian reservations to Hitler’s concentration camps.

To date, McMichael has not publicly apologized for his public statements and did not respond to The Globe’s request for comment.

Despite his loss for reelection on June 11, his comments continue to spark outrage and his video recording posted on X has gained national attention.

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