Wayne State University was forced to revoke its Helen Thomas Spirit of Diversity in Media award after Helen Thomas, the namesake of the award, expressed her anti-Semitism at a workshop in Dearborn, Michigan. Thomas, who claimed that the United States was controlled by Zionists, said, "Congress, the White House and Hollywood, Wall Street are owned by the Zionists. They put their money where their mouth is. We're being pushed into a wrong direction in every way" (May). .
Wayne State University's interim dean, Matthew Seeger, quickly revoked the award, stating that it was "no longer helping us achieve our goals." In an emailed statement he reportedly wrote that the university "strongly condemns the anti-Semitic remarks made by Helen Thomas" (Collins). .
As a daughter of Lebanese immigrants in Detroit, Thomas is believed to have had problems with Jews. She was the first female officer of the National Press Club and the first female member of the White House Correspondents Association. After reporting on every president since Eisenhower, Thomas made a name for herself by being aggressive in her interviews. In her lifetime, Thomas has been honored by the Society of Professional Journalists, as well as receiving over thirty honorary degrees. The Helen Thomas award was given out each year by Wayne State's Journalism Institute for Media Diversity to students whose work expresses diversity. The Anti-Defamation League asked that all institutions withdraw awards in Thomas' name (Collins). .
This is not the first time Thomas has expressed her prejudice against the Jews. A video dating back to June has record of Thomas saying that the Jews should "get the hell out of Palestine" and return home to "Poland, Germany and America and everywhere else." After this initial incident, Thomas was forced to quit her job as a columnist for the Hearst newspapers. Later, she apologized for her comments (Collins).