UW Regents Schedule Do-Over Vote Wednesday on Deal With Republicans
Board narrowly rejected controversial deal Saturday on DEI, employee raises and engineering building.
Van Hise Hall on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus Friday, April 2, 2021, in Madison, Wis. Angela Major/WPR
The Universities of Wisconsin Board of Regents has scheduled another vote for Wednesday to reconsider a GOP deal that would release employee pay raises in exchange for new limits on campus diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
Regents scheduled the vote for Wednesday at 5 p.m. following a closed-door meeting Tuesday. The meeting was recommended by Regents Amy Blumenfeld Bogost, Ashok Rai, Kyle Weatherly and University of Wisconsin System President Jay Rothman.
Bogost voted against the resolution Saturday, which failed 9-8.
The deal up for a vote reflects the one negotiated by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, and Rothman.
Under the agreement, state lawmakers would release around $800 million to the UW for cost-of-living raises and building projects, like a UW-Madison engineering building that was rejected by Republicans earlier this year. In exchange, the UW would have agreed to freeze the number of DEI positions through 2026 and realign some jobs currently focused on diversity.
Other UW concessions would include the end of a UW-Madison initiative aimed at hiring more diverse faculty and staff on campus. The UW would also adopt a Republican proposal requiring campuses to automatically admit the top academic performers from high schools around the state.
The circumstances that led to the second vote are anything but usual. Regents rejected the GOP deal Saturday, a day after it was made public. During the meeting, members who opposed the deal made speeches in favor of DEI programming and warned accepting the offer would lead to future concessions to lawmakers.
During an interview with WISN-AM Monday, Vos said he hoped regents “come to their senses” and reconsider the compromise.
“I will do everything in my power to make sure that we either enforce this deal or we wait until the next budget to talk about it again,” Vos said. “We are not going to give the raises. We are not going to approve these new building programs. We are not going to approve the new money for the university unless they at least pass this deal.”
In a Tuesday statement issued before regents scheduled a new vote, State Rep. Dora Drake, D-Milwaukee, who chairs the Legislative Black Caucus, criticized regents for their closed session, claiming the board was going to “reconsider the deal” and urging members to discuss the matter in public. Drake said residents should know if the UW “will succumb to Republican political pressures” or if they’re committed to DEI.
Editor’s note: WPR staff are employees of UW-Madison.
UW regents schedule new vote to consider GOP deal on employee raises, DEI was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Vos and his ilk need to be voted out of office.
This is a disappointment. That some Regents respond to Vos’s putdowns (“I hope the Regents come to their senses.”) and threats demonstrates that they don’t understand their role, or the role of the legislature. The Regents set policy. Not the legislature. I am sick and tired of Vos pretending he sets the rules for everything in this state. He represents a single district in southeastern Wisconsin.
It goes to show that blackmail can be quite effective.
This is part of Republican attack on public education and promotion of white, Christian nationalism.
To be continued…
Legislative pressure on publicly funded universities didn’t start with Robin Vos and won’t end with him. Yes, he is a right wing jerk.
But as long as Republicans have a stranglehold on the legislature the UW is going to have to deal with it. Just like Milwaukee did after 15 years of criticism and comolaining didn’t get any relief.
Easy for self righteous critics to say scuttle the much needed raises and engineering building to “show them” and continue specific programs that may or may not actually improve recruitment and retention of certain minorities.
Vos wins if the UW becomes a second class state University when professors leave or won’t come and Purdue and Minnesota get the engineering students that would have stayed in Wisconsin.
lccfcc00p2: Giving in to blackmail is a solution?
This isn’t just “legislative pressure.” This is the legislature dictating the regents’ decisions, by withholding previously-approved funds and threatening regents with firing if they don’t vote as the legislature wishes. It’s called blackmail.
Vos wins either way, but the only way to get rid of him is to curb his power. Giving in enhances his power, telling him he can push for more. And nowhe will.
The root cause is Gerrymandering (Rigged Voting Districts); the most extreme across the Nation.
Right Wing Rupublicans, Former Gov Walker & WI Legislature committed Voter Fraud.
• Our Votes don’t carry equal power. Their M.O. “If you can’t win by Hook, win by Crook.”
• All Violated Oath of Offce: Failed to honor Separation of Powers between branches of goverment. Collusion.