Wayne State Medical School Dean Wael Sakr returning after six weeks on leave
September 26th, 20250 DETROIT — After more than a month on paid administrative leave, Wayne State University School of Medicine Dean Dr. Wael Sakr will return to campus Monday, September 29, according to a university announcement. In an email to faculty Thursday, Dr. Bernard Costello, WSU’s senior vice president for health affairs, confirmed Sakr’s...
Wayne State University president resigns as student group calls for medical school dean’s reinstatement
September 19th, 20250 Students defend Medical School Dean Wael Sakr In developments that reflect escalating tensions inside Wayne State University, the student group Medical Students for Justice in Palestine issued a solidarity statement supporting the dean of the School of Medicine, Dr. Wael Sakr, following what they described as the arbitrary decision by...
Dearborn School Board appoints Nasri Sobh and Ali Bazzi to fill vacancies
September 19th, 20250 Two vacancies filled within deadline The Dearborn Board of Education, during a special meeting held Monday, appointed Nasri Mohammad Sobh to the remaining vacant seat on the seven-member board, just one week after selecting Ali Kamel Bazzi to fill another vacancy. The board had lost two members following the resignations of Irene Watts...
Ali Kamel Bazzi appointed to Dearborn School Board as first of two vacancies filled
September 12th, 20250 DEARBORN – The Dearborn Board of Education voted on Monday to appoint entrepreneur and community activist Ali Kamel Bazzi to one of its two vacant seats, with the second seat to be filled at a meeting scheduled for next week. Bazzi, 43, is the founder of Progressive Management and Archer Creative, and also serves on the advisory board...
Dearborn Superintendent Glenn Maleyko chosen as Michigan’s next state superintendent
August 29th, 20250 LANSING – The Michigan State Board of Education voted on Tuesday, August 26, to appoint Dr. Glenn Maleyko, longtime superintendent of Dearborn Public Schools, as the next state superintendent of public schools. After interviewing three finalists for the position, the eight-member board voted 5–3 to offer the post to Maleyko, who is...
Dearborn’s Glenn Maleyko among finalists to become Michigan superintendent of public schools
August 23rd, 20250 LANSING – The Michigan Board of Education voted 6–2 on Tuesday to advance Dr. Glenn Maleyko, superintendent of Dearborn Public Schools, along with two other candidates, to the final shortlist for state superintendent. The chosen individual will replace Michael F. Rice, who announced earlier this year that he will retire. Joining...Wayne State Medical School Dean Dr. Wael Sakr placed on paid administrative leave, reasons unclear
August 23rd, 20250 DETROIT – Wayne State University has placed the dean of its School of Medicine, Dr. Wael Sakr, a Syrian American physician, on paid administrative leave without offering any explanation for the move. The decision, which was announced in an email sent to faculty and staff, has sparked concern and unease among members of the...
Dearborn School Board seeks applicants to fill seat vacated by Trustee Irene watts resignation
August 15th, 20250 DEARBORN — The Dearborn Public Schools Board of Education is accepting applications to fill a vacant seat following Trustee Irene Watts’ resignation. Watts, who served on the board since 2021 and was vice president at the time of her resignation on August 11, stepped down because her family is moving out of the district. The...
Michigan AG Dana Nessel escalates crackdown on pro-Palestine activists as students vow to resist
July 27th, 20250 LANSING — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is continuing to target student activists supporting Palestinian rights, despite mounting criticism in recent weeks, through what the TAHRIR Coalition — a broad coalition of student organizations at the University of Michigan — describes as an ongoing campaign of intimidation and...
Four CUNY professors say they were fired for supporting Palestine
July 18th, 20250 As Congress grills CUNY’s chancellor, the terminated Brooklyn College faculty say Palestine activism is “the only thing we have in common.” By Sanya Mansoor Four adjunct professors at the City University of New York say the university fired them because of their activism for Palestine. The administration’s decision...
Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil freed after 100 days in ICE detention, vows to keep fighting for Palestine
June 27th, 20250 NEW YORK — A federal judge in New Jersey has ordered the release of Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil from immigration detention, marking a major civil rights victory for pro-Palestinian advocates amid an escalating crackdown by President Trump’s administration, which has accused campus demonstrators of...
WSU students sue over Gaza encampment crackdown, alleging police abuse and constitutional violations
June 27th, 20250 DETROIT — A group of pro-Palestinian students is suing Wayne State University in federal court, alleging that the university violated their constitutional rights during a solidarity encampment held on campus on May 23, 2024, to protest the Israeli war on Gaza and demand divestment from companies tied to the Israeli government. The...
LAHC awards $60,000 in scholarships to 20 local students, honors Michigan officials with the Excellence Awards
June 15th, 20250 DEARBORN – The nonprofit organization Leaders Advancing and Helping Communities (LAHC) awarded $60,000 in scholarships to 20 high-achieving high school graduates from the Dearborn area and honored several high-ranking Michigan officials during its 42nd Annual Awards Gala, held Tuesday evening at the Henry Hotel in Dearborn. The event...
Dearborn bids farewell to transformative Henry Ford College President Russell Kavalhuna
June 15th, 20250 DEARBORN – On the eve of Henry Ford College President Russell Kavalhuna’s transition to the presidency of Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo in July, The Arab American News Publisher Osama Siblani and longtime community leader and activist Ali Jawad hosted a farewell dinner in his honor, in recognition of his leadership and...
Students, CAIR slam U of M for covert surveillance, harassment and intimidation of pro-Palestine voices on campus
June 15th, 20250 ANN ARBOR — The Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI) is demanding an independent and transparent investigation into allegations that the University of Michigan deployed undercover investigators to surveillance, intimidate, and harass pro-Palestinian students on campus. “U of M Ann Arbor being......
Trump administration bars Harvard from enrolling foreign students, says thousands must transfer
May 23rd, 20250 WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Trump administration revoked Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students in its escalating battle with the Ivy League school, saying thousands of current students must transfer to other schools or leave the country. The Department of Homeland Security announced the action Thursday, saying...
Dearborn Board of Education unanimously appoints Dr. Lori Gonko as interim president of Henry Ford College
May 16th, 20250 DEARBORN – On Tuesday, the Dearborn Board of Education announced the unanimous appointment of Dr. Lori Gonko as interim president of Henry Ford College. Gonko, who is currently vice president of strategy and human resources at HFC, succeeds outgoing President Russell Kavalhuna, who will leave his position in early July to become......
Nessel drops charges against pro-Palestinian students at the University of Michigan amid pressure, bias allegations
May 9th, 20250 ANN ARBOR – After sustained pressure from civil rights and advocacy groups, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced the dismissal of charges against seven pro-Palestinian student protesters who were arrested in May 2024 during a campus encampment at the University of Michigan. The protest condemned what demonstrators described...
DEARBORN PUBLIC SCHOOLS NOTICE OF A PUBLIC HEARING ON PROPOSED 2025-2026 BUDGET
May 7th, 20250 PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that on May 12, 2025, at 7 o’clock pm., at the Ten Eyck Administration Building, 18700 Audette, Dearborn, MI. 48124, the Board of Education of Dearborn Public Schools will hold a public hearing to consider the district’s proposed 2025-2026 budget. The Board may not adopt its proposed 2025-2026 budget until after...
Russell Kavalhuna named president of Western Michigan University, leaving Henry Ford College and returning to Kalamazoo
May 2nd, 20251 DEARBORN – Last month the Board of Trustees at Western Michigan University (WMU) elected Russell Kavalhuna, president of Henry Ford College in Dearborn, to become the new president of the public university in Kalamazoo, effective July 1. Kavalhuna, a 2001 graduate of WMU, will succeed current president Dr. Edward Montgomery, becoming...
Student crackdown intensifies: Mahmoud Khalil’s case takes alarming turn as federal lawsuit filed in Michigan
April 18th, 20250 A sweeping federal crackdown on international students has intensified, with the U.S. government canceling the visas of approximately 1,000 current and recent foreign graduates from American universities. Among them is Palestinian student Mahmoud Khalil, a legal U.S. resident and Columbia University graduate, whose potential deportation......
CAIR accuses Wayne State University police of discrimination against Arab and Muslim students
April 18th, 20250 DETROIT — The Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI) has filed a formal complaint with the Michigan Department of Civil Rights (MDCR), accusing Wayne State University (WSU) campus police of racial and religious discrimination against Arab and Muslim students. The complaint follows a pro-Palestinian...
Federal crackdown continues on pro-Palestinian protesters: Visa cancellations hit international students at Michigan universities
April 11th, 20250 ANN ARBOR –As part of a federal crackdown on pro-Palestinian student voices at U.S. universities, at least five universities in Michigan have reported the cancellation of student visas by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The University of Michigan stated that visas for four international students were revoked, including......
Know Your Rights: CAIR releases educational guide for dealing with ICE officers
April 11th, 20250 WASHINGTON, D.C. – Under the title “Know Your Rights”, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) recently published an educational guide outlining what to do when interacting with officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal law enforcement agencies. CAIR said in a statement that the guide...
Religious leaders, human rights activists urge Wayne State University officials to protect students supporting Palestinian rights
April 4th, 20250 DETROIT – On Wednesday, religious leaders and human rights activists in Michigan sent an open letter to Wayne State University President Kimberly Andrews Espy and members of the university’s Board of Governors, expressing deep concern over what they described as repressive campaigns targeting students protesting acts of genocide in......
