The Universities of Wisconsin (UW) Board of Regents rejected a deal that the school system had made with state Republicans to halt UW diversity efforts in exchange for funding and employee raises.
UW Board of Regents Member Angela Adams
The regents’ decision – a close 9-8 vote – came during an Dec. 9 emergency meeting after school leaders had agreed on Dec. 8 to acquiesce to Republican demands by freezing the hiring for diversity positions through the end of 2026; moving more than 40 diversity positions to “student success;” removing statements supporting diversity on student applications; dismantling a UW-Madison affirmative action faculty hiring program; and establishing a role about conservative political thought.
Wisconsin Republicans have demonstrated clear opposition against the Universities of Wisconsin’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts. According to PBS, GOP legislators cut system funding in June 2023 by $32 million. They also denied funding for an engineering building at UW-Madison, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Later in the year, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos also began calling for UW to cut DEI spending by $32 million, withholding allocation of funding for UW employee pay raises until the school system agreed to his demand. Vos made this threat despite the raises having already been approved in the state budget earlier in 2023.
Vos has called DEI programs a waste of public funding and that promoting diversity widened divisions amongst people. His comments echo increasingly popular anti-DEI sentiments among U.S. lawmakers on the right.
UW leaders’ deal with Republicans on Friday would have resulted in the funding for a 6% UW employee raise over two years; a new engineering building – approximately $200 million; and dorm renovations.
With this rejection from regents, all that money remains at a standstill.
