Supervisors Call on WIAA to Strengthen Protections Against Hate Speech, Harassment in High School Sports

MILWAUKEE – Milwaukee County Supervisors are urging the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) to close a critical enforcement gap that has allowed incidents of hate speech and harassment during regular season athletic contests to go unaddressed. The resolution, authored by Supervisor Shawn Rolland and co-sponsored by Supervisors Kathleen Vincent, Anne O’Connor, Caroline Gómez-Tom, Jack Eckblad, Felesia A. Martin, Willie Johnson, Jr., and Sky Z. Capriolo, highlights recent incidents involving Milwaukee and Wauwatosa students, where officials failed to take action after witnessing harassment directed at student-athletes.

“Currently, the WIAA has tough standards for hate speech at tournament games, but weaker standards at regular season matches, and that disparity is leaving kids vulnerable,” said Supervisor Rolland. “Kids should always be safe, and it’s time for officials to up their game. If officials are trained and protocols are in place for tournaments, then our kids deserve that same level of protection every single game of the season.”

The resolution calls on the WIAA Board to:

• Acknowledge the enforcement gap that has allowed hate speech and harassment in regular-season games to go unaddressed.
• Extend tournament harassment protocols to all regular-season contests.
• Require statewide training for licensed officials to ensure incidents are handled promptly and consistently.

The measure also directs the Milwaukee County Office of Government Affairs to communicate the resolution to the Wisconsin Association of School Boards, urging them to include this policy recommendation in their legislative agenda, and to share it directly with the WIAA Board.

Each year, an estimated 85,000 to 90,000 Wisconsin students participate in interscholastic athletics, including thousands in Milwaukee County. Supervisors stressed the safety, equity, and well-being of those student-athletes.

The resolution is expected to come before the Committee on Intergovernmental Relations during their 9:00 a.m. meeting tomorrow, Friday, September 5, 2025, in Room 203-R of the Milwaukee County Courthouse. The hybrid meeting will also be live-streamed on the County Legislative Information Center: https://milwaukeecounty.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.