Wayne State Pulls Helen Thomas Diversity Award

By ROBERT GUTTERSOHN | The South End, The official student newspaper of Wayne State University

DETROIT - Wayne State is pulling its Helen Thomas Spirit of Diversity Award after alumna and former White House Press Corps member Helen Thomas reportedly made anti-Semitic remarks at an Arab-American media workshop held in Dearborn on, the university said in a statement.
“As a public university, Wayne State encourages free speech and open dialogue, and respects diverse viewpoints,” the statement said. “However, the university strongly condemns the anti-Semitic remarks made by Helen Thomas during a conference yesterday.”

According to the Detroit Free Press, Thomas said Zionists controlled U.S. foreign policy and Wall Street.

WSU held back on pulling the award in the spring after Thomas responded to a question by saying Jewish people should “get the hell out of Palestine.” She suggested that they “go home” to “Poland, Germany and America and everywhere else,” during the White House’s Jewish Heritage Day event on May 27.

She resigned shortly after from her position as a columnist for the Hearst News Service. But, at that time, WSU decided her comment was more of a knee-jerk reaction and kept intact the award named after Thomas and given to local and national journalists