On June 10, 2024, the University of Minnesota (UMN) rescinded its offer to Raz Segal, an Associate Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Stockton University, to serve as the director of its Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies (CHGS).

In the early fall 2024, UMN opened a search for a new CHGS director, a tenure track role. Following a rigorous search process during which the search committee solicited written feedback from the UMN community, Segal was offered the position. The search occurred against the backdrop of an October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas and ongoing Israeli military action in Gaza in response. During the search process, some individuals, including Rebecca Feinstein, the daughter of the center’s founder, raised concerns about Segal’s views on the ongoing violence. Nevertheless, the consensus of the search committee was that Segal was the best candidate for the job.

On June 7, CHGS’s interim director emailed the center’s advisory board to let them know that the search committee had selected Segal for the position. That evening, two advisory board members resigned in protest of the decision. Specifically, they pointed to an article by Segal published in Jewish Currents in mid-October 2023. In the article, titled “A Textbook Case of Genocide,” Segal drew on his expertise as a professor of genocide studies, writing, “the assault on Gaza can be understood…as a textbook case of genocide unfolding in front of our eyes.” One of the advisory committee members claimed that Segal “failed to recognize the genocidal intent of Hamas.” The husband of one of the two advisory committee members posted the news on X, prompting the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas to send out an advocacy alert encouraging its recipients to call or email the UMN administration and Board of Regents to express their concern with Segal’s selection.

According to an op-ed written by Segal and published in the Forward, the university initially stood by its decision to offer Segal the job. However, as public pressure intensified, the UMN’s interim president emailed Segal to withdraw the job offer. The university publicly announced that it was pausing its search for a new CHGS director in order to gather more feedback from the community.

Multiple groups expressed concern about UMN’s actions.  The American Association of University Professors called UMN’s actions an “outrageous violation of both academic freedom and the integrity of the faculty hiring process.”

Scholars at Risk is concerned about the withdrawal of an academic appointment to a scholar in retaliation for the exercise of his right to freedom of expression and academic freedom, including extramural academic expression on a matter within his area of professional expertise. Moreover, Scholars at Risk is concerned that this decision was made due to public pressure from members of the academic community and members of the public. University authorities have an obligation to refrain from retaliatory actions intended to punish, restrict, or chill the exercise of academic freedom. Universities should also take measures to ensure, wherever possible, that hiring decisions remain free from outside pressure and are driven solely by academic considerations. Such actions undermine university autonomy and inhibit institutions’ ability to function freely, undermining academic freedom and democratic society generally.

UPDATE 8/18/2026: In August 2026, Segal reached a $250,000 settlement with the University of Minnesota. The settlement came after Segal obtained a series of emails through a public records request, which revealed a coordinated pressure campaign on university officials to not hire him. The terms of the deal outlined that the payout was not an admission of wrongdoing by the university.

Sources:
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2024/06/12/u-minnesota-pauses-search-holocaust-center-director
https://www.chronicle.com/article/a-holocaust-scholar-called-israels-actions-in-palestine-genocide-it-cost-him-a-job-offer
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2024/06/14/university-of-minnesota-delays-plan-to-hire-genocide-studies-director
https://www.startribune.com/university-of-minnesota-pauses-search-for-holocaust-center-director-amid-controversy/600372516
https://jewishinsider.com/2024/06/university-of-minnesota-center-for-holocaust-and-genocide-studies-raz-segal/
https://forward.com/opinion/631746/university-protests-israel-genocide-campus/
https://mesana.org/advocacy/committee-on-academic-freedom/2024/06/18/letter-to-the-university-of-minnesota-regarding-its-decision-to-rescind-a-job-offer-to-dr.-raz-segal
https://www.umn-tc-aaup.org/letter-on-administrative-interference-in-cla-hiring.html
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdXGeUgG-_zWZAwDhXjhOaq-6LOtmeDr6HH0PsBQs7nz5RQPQ/viewform
https://sites.google.com/view/community4raz/home
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/aug/06/professor-israel-gaza-university-of-minnesota