After helping defend students and activists from felony charges stemming from protests at the University of Michigan, a local civil rights attorney is now running to help govern the university.
Amir Makled, who recently represented one of seven individuals charged with felonies by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel's office in relation to pro-Palestinian protests on campus, announced his candidacy for the Board of Regents in January. He held his first candidate event in Dearborn Heights this week.
Makled is seeking the Democratic nomination for the eight member body that has "general supervision" over the public institution. The regents run for eight year terms in state-wide elections and oversee policies governing tuition, contracts, and the university's budget.
Makled said his the decision to run for the U-M Board of Regents stemmed from a realization that legal victories don't always change university policies.
"Institutions like the University of Michigan can lose in a case or lose in a lawsuit," he told supporters. "But [if] they still keep writing those policies [and] those punishments, we’re never going to have a change until we are on that seat."
Makled’s ties to the university are rooted in his time at U-M Dearborn, a campus he describes as being built for the "working class." As a former student senator, he said he led efforts to keep tuition increases below the rate of inflation and organized student-led online bookswap.
Now, Makled said he hopes to bring that kind of advocacy to the highest level of university governance, promising a "movement" for the professors, nurses, and students who "built" the institution.
The terms of two Democratic regents — Jordan Acker and Paul Brown — will expire in 2027, but both are eligible to run for re-election this year. Makled will need to win his party's nomination at the Michigan Democratic convention in April to get on the state-wide ballot.
Another Democrat, Sean Rositano, announced his candidacy in November. Rositano is a legislative director in the Michigan House of Representatives.
