UW Board of Regents Rejects Compromise on DEI, Pay Raises
9-8 vote a rare rebuke. Regents call it bad precedent and 'divisive...polarizing.'
UW System President Jay Rothman speaks Thursday, Aug. 18, during the UW System Board of Regents meeting at UW-Green Bay. Angela Major/WPR
The Universities of Wisconsin’s Board of Regents rejected a compromise with Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos in a special meeting Saturday.
The deal, brokered by university leaders and released on Friday, would have seen legislators release pay raises for about 34,000 university system employees that have been in limbo for months in exchange for cutting diversity, equity, and inclusion positions and other measures.
Members of the boards made speeches in favor of diversity programming and warned that accepting the deal would only lead to future concessions to lawmakers. It is rare for the board to reject a proposal that has been put up for a vote.
“It’s divisive, it’s polarizing and will ultimately lead to even more negative effects on the university system for decades to come. Let’s go back to the table,” said Regent Angela Adams. “Our brand reputation also has value. And so I’ve reached the conclusion that it is shortsighted to accept such an indecent proposal.”
During the debate, Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman said the university system is committed to closing gaps in retention and graduation rates among underrepresented students.
“At the same time, we have to look at diversity as a broader concept, and we have to be inclusive and belonging to all students,” Rothman said. “Certainly underrepresented students from underrepresented groups, but also students of different ideological and religious space, veterans, disabled students, first generation students and the like. That is all part and parcel of who we are at the Universities of Wisconsin as we live our core values of diversity and inclusion.”
The deal Rothman brokered with Vos would have created an administrative chair position to focus on “conservative political thought, classical economic theory, or classical liberalism.” It also would have ended a program aimed at recruiting faculty of color.
Ashok Rai was one of the regents who spoke in favor of the plan. He said he first came to UW-Milwaukee in 1990, shortly before the start of the Gulf War.
“I was called names that I had never imagined being called before,” he said. “Diversity means a lot to me. Equity means a lot to me.”
Rai said he trusted Rothman and UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin to negotiate what is in the best interest of the universities.
Nine members of the board voted against the plan, while eight voted in favor.
UW Board of Regents votes down compromise on DEI, pay raises was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
This agreement is a good compromise. I think any program of this size should be reviewed for effectiveness and its impact on the target audience. The needs of these students in 2023 will be different than the needs of students enrolled in the year 2000. The regents owe the students a thorough program review so that unproductive aspects can be removed and new approaches that reflect the needs of students in the 21st century can be met.
So “faux Mensa” Vos blackmails flunky Rothman into creating a conservative squawkbox to help re-establish the centrality of white masculinity on campus……? Firstly, these MAGA-its aren’t qualified to run a day-care, let alone a university. Secondly, Rothman needs to step down before he does more damage to our once-admired public university.
A program review is not conducted via negotiations between legislators and top university administrators, without the input of affected students, staff and faculty. This was a political decision only, made by university administrators with limited experience of the University’s role in the state and politicians who hold an unreasonable animosity toward the flagship campus. Thank goodness for the Regents who can see the bigger picture.
Kudos to the University of Wisconsin Regents for maintaining their obligation of responsible oversight of the University of Wisconsin system. The Assembly Speaker uses his power to withhold funds owed employees of the system as well as building funds, which even he says is needed, in order to force politically inspired changes. This is dangerous no matter which
political party is involved. The vote of the Board of Regents recognized that.
The deal with Vos was no compromise. In fact, it smacked of the “compromises” inflicted by the Nazis on schools and universities throughout Europe during WWII. History is very clear on what happened after the Nazi’s programs were in place. First all Jewish faculty, staff, and students were expelled. Then only faculty that agreed with the Nazi philosophy were allowed to teach. Any faculty or students who spoke out against the Nazi control were executed. In Nazi Europe only the privileged Aryan males received an education. Would that happen here in Wisconsin? Thankfully no because the Board of Regents stood up for the academy of ideas and the rights of all Wisconsinites to receive a quality post secondary education.
It is a travesty that 34,000 employees (including janitors, maintenance people, security guards, commissary employees, as well as faculty, and professional staff) have been forced by Vos & company to suffer for the right to a free and open academy. The same thing happened under the Nazi regime. Educators throughout Europe were willing to sacrifice, even with their lives..