Obscure board race becomes proxy battle in Middle East tensions

Off the top of your head, name of one member of the University of Michigan Board of Regents.

Just one. Not Tom Brady. Nope, Madonna is a famous alum, too. Not on the board.

Fact is, you need to be pretty deep into Michigan politics to even think about U-M’s governing board, let alone name one of the eight members on it.

Yet, the race for two Democratic nomination slots on this board is top of mind for delegates attending this month’s endorsement convention, mainly because of what it represents.

Students and progressive activists see the University of Michigan’s investments in Israeli companies and its rough treatment toward pro-Palestinian demonstrators nearly two years ago as a microcosm of the bigger struggle in the Middle East.

It goes back to May 21, 2024, when campus police drove out some 50 protestors who were living in an encampment at the University of Michigan’s Diag.

The protestors claimed about a third of U-M’s $18 billion endowment was tied to “weapons manufacturing and war-profiteering companies,” and they wanted it to stop. The administration said only one-tenth of 1% of its investment matched that description.

After a month of folks living in some 60 tents and 10 canopies, a fire inspector said the overloaded wiring wasn’t safe. One spark and it could be catastrophic.

The U-M president, with the support of the board, got the cops involved. In the early morning hours of May 21, about 50 protestors were pushed out and weren’t happy about it. Some threw metal objects and pieces of furniture at the police. Eleven were arrested.

Dearborn-based civil rights attorney Amir Makled became the lead attorney for the group that ultimately got the crew off the hook legally, but it was a long process.

Jordan Acker, on of eight regents, became the face of the Board – the one protestors felt had led the charge on the encampment’s demolition.

Acker acknowledged that, for safety, it had to come down. In hindsight, he regrets not visiting the protestors and hearing them out.

Since the incident, Acker’s home was vandalized twice. The law office where he practices was hit once.

All the while, Acker rejects the insinuation that he stands with Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli government for their treatment of Palestinians living in the West Bank since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

Again, he said whatever decision the U-M Board made on May 21, 2024, was for the health and safety of the campus, not an affront to the protestors’ movement.

On April 19, 2026, nearly two years later, Acker is running for renomination to the board along with Paul Brown.

Their one opponent for the Democratic nomination – yup, Amir Makled, who was detained at DTW a year ago as he returned with his family from spring break. He strongly suspects it was because of his role in helping the Diag protestors.

Rightly or wrongly, the race has become a symbol of the tension within the Michigan Democratic Party itself, between the traditional supporters from Southwest Michigan’s Jewish community and the progressive activists who plan on bringing a strong contingent to the convention.

Acker’s supporters see the campaign against him as antisemitic in that the union-backed regent is not a tool for the Netanyahu government. He isn’t receiving money from the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) (they don’t get involved in university board races). There’s no reason for the attacks against him, they argue, other than the fact that he is Jewish.

In fact, Acker visited Israel and Palestine to meet with students about what can be done to create a more peaceful existence.

Makled’s supporters say it’s high time for a more diverse Board and to promote someone to regent who will more strongly support free speech. They want someone to restore Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the face of President Trump’s request to do otherwise.

It’s possible that the other issues the candidates are running on will become deciding points for the delegates.

But it’s more likely this one will come down to organizational strength and where the heart of the party lies on an issue much bigger than the University of Michigan.

(Kyle Melinn is the editor of the Capitol news service MIRS. You can email him at melinnky@gmail.com.)