Role of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs on UW campuses
MILWAUKEE - 'Diversity, equity and inclusion' has been the center of a funding fight between the state legislature and the Universities of Wisconsin. The UW-system board of regents approved a proposal to freeze DEI hiring days after initially rejecting it.
What does the DEI division do on campus?
UW-Milwaukee's Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion lists 25 full-time workers.
"I don’t think I would be successful here without the DEI programs. I do utilize them in all sorts of ways," said UWM senior Bailee Jones, who also says that includes visiting the division's Hispanic center.
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"I am a minor in Spanish and I use the Roberto Hernandez Center to practice those skills. I also have them as a link to the Hispanic community in Milwaukee," she added.
The DEI Division also includes Black, American Indian, and Asian student centers. Each has at least one person whose job is titled "Success Coach."
Inclusion sign at UW-Milwaukee
"I have used the resources, as far as studying. They have a lot of events and afternoon classes and helping students cope with just everyday campus life," said UWM Senior Erica Powell. "I have been there for several things: job searching, and things like that. They are a help, so I don’t understand why they are being cut."
The Universities of Wisconsin will not be able to add new DEI positions through 2026, and it'll move at least 33% of the current statewide roles, at least 43 jobs, to focus instead on "academic success."
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"I think far too many people don’t realize how truly cancerous this is for our democracy," said Speaker Robin Vos on 1130AM's The Jay Weber Show. "The idea that we have gone from something that said that people should be judged on the content of their character and now we’ve gone to say it should be based on where they are born, the race that they currently have and the idea of what they want to be for the gender, I mean this is just a bunch of crap."
The hiring freeze is part of the deal the UW Board of Regents agreed to with Republican lawmakers, a deal to boost all UW workers' pay 4% in 2023 and 2% in 2024, and invest nearly $200 million into a new UW-Madison engineering building.
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"Much of what those offices do around the system has nothing to do with the issues that Robin Vos and his colleagues seem to be uncomfortable with," said Doug Savage, director of UWM's Institute of World Affairs.
UW-Milwaukee's DEI Division houses a program centered on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) students. The "STEM Inspire Program" says its mission is to "to facilitate student success, with the goal of increasing the number of underrepresented minority students who graduate from UW-Milwaukee and pursue careers or graduate/professional schools in STEM fields."
Likewise, the division's "McNair Scholars Program" says its goal is to "increase the number of students from underrepresented backgrounds who enter graduate studies leading to the doctorate."
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's DEI division also handles affirmative action. equal opportunity and claims of sex-based discrimination.
FOX6 asked UW-Milwaukee's communications office for an on-camera interview with someone from the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, but a university spokesperson said they didn’t have anyone available.