UW-Milwaukee updated statement on social media post by UWM lecturer
Betsy Schoeller, a senior lecturer at UWM, made comments via her personal Facebook page that are beyond thoughtless. They are repugnant and terribly at odds with UWM’s values. UWM in no way condones Ms. Schoeller’s comments, and we understand and empathize with the outrage and concerns we are hearing.
The murder of Army Specialist Vanessa Guillen is horrifying. There can be no excuse or rationalization for the killing of SPC Guillen and the circumstances surrounding this tragedy. UWM is proud to be the largest educator of veterans in the state of Wisconsin and stands in solidarity with those opposed to violence against women, and anxiously awaits justice for SPC Guillen and her family.
There are legal reasons why UWM cannot fire Ms. Schoeller for her social media postings, as some have demanded. The rights granted by the First Amendment are absolute. UWM cannot regulate the private speech of its employees.
We are committed to a safe, welcoming and inclusive campus, and this includes support for anyone affected by sexual violence, as well as military members and veterans. UWM offers several support services for sexual violence survivors, including confidential resources as well as survivor-empowered reporting options. UWM also takes its Title IX obligations to ensure a community free of sex discrimination seriously. Please see our Title IX webpage for more information: uwm.edu/titleix/what-is-title-ix. UWM also offers robust and meaningful support for veterans and active military through the Military and Veterans Resource Center (MAVRC) (uwm.edu/mavrc), which has operated at UWM since 2012.
We encourage any student affected by or concerned about this situation to seek out campus resources, including MAVRC, the Dean of Students Office and the Norris Health Center’s University Counseling Services. We do not want the educational experience – or the sense of safety – of any of our students to be damaged by this appalling situation.
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.
More about the Lecturer's Controversial Comments
- Op Ed: UWM, Professor Buff Should Apologize - Joanie Mackowski - Aug 10th, 2020
- Op Ed: UWM Must Take Student Protests Seriously - Rachel Ida Buff - Jul 13th, 2020
- Back in the News: Faculty Group Condemns UWM Lecturer - Bruce Murphy - Jul 7th, 2020
- Back in the News: Rush To Judgment on UWM Lecturer? - Bruce Murphy - Jul 6th, 2020
- Personal statement by Betsy Schoeller regarding the death of Specialist Vanessa Guillen - University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee - Jul 5th, 2020
- UW-Milwaukee updated statement on social media post by UWM lecturer - University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee - Jul 4th, 2020
Read more about Lecturer's Controversial Comments here
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Betsy Schoeller’s FACEBOOK comment was thoughtless mainly because she was foolish enough to use FACEBOOK. Nobody has asked whether her comments was observational or advocacyl. Simply: does she advocate for a sexist military culture, or was she telling it like it is? Nobody asked! Why not? This is another witch hunt against a woman, just as Guillen’s murder was against a woman. UWM has striven to maintain a racist and sexist culture, obscuring it behind postmodern posturings of of White male administrators, (not that Black female administrators would be much different in a culture of White patriarchy). White supremacy and patriarchy are structural and systemic throughout UWM UW System, the State of Wisconsin, and the United States of America. Maybe somebody should ask Schoeller, but nobody has, what she meant.
Please excuse the typos, as I was so exercised when I wrote my comment.