The University of Wisconsin is whitewashed. Not in the good ol' "Tom Sawyer painting his fence" sense of the word. More in the "walking into an African-American history class with 200 students and having less than ten African-Americans in it" sense of the word.
Yes, we all know that we go to one of the highest-rated public universities in the nation, but until the university provides solid experience with all sorts of ethnic and minority groups, Madison graduates will not be fully prepared for the world we live in today.
Case in point: Madison's elementary schools are expected to have a "minority majority" for the first time this year. Students of color will comprise more than 50 percent of students enrolled in elementary grades compared to the 11.5 percent minority population at our campus that also calls the city of Madison its home. The people who become our bosses, our coworkers or our neighbors are becoming increasingly likely to be of a different ethnicity. This means in order to live and interact successfully, we must learn in an environment that exposes all of us to different types of people. This allows us to study not just textbooks and course packets, but the likes and dislikes, plusses and minuses, differences and similarities of people from varied races and backgrounds.
How do we start to take a hold of this problem and begin to see more students of color here at the University of Wisconsin? It all starts before we're even old enough to spell "heterogeneity."
A recent story in the Janesville Gazette reports on an initiative to escalate the number of minority teachers in the Janesville School District. In a town where the non-white student population has more than doubled in the past decade, 99 percent of the teachers are still Caucasian. Who cares if all the teachers are white, you ask? Minority students need role models to look up to as they progress from kindergarten to senior prom. An instructor who can connect to students, who may otherwise feel isolated in an overwhelmingly white school, can motivate those students toward future academic success. The more successful young black, Hispanic and Asian students our schools can produce, the better. Higher numbers of thriving minority students in our elementary, middle and high schools mean higher numbers of minority students who eventually will apply and be accepted to the college we all know and love. Minority teachers would inherently lead to an increased amount of minority students becoming teachers, and then they would inspire more teachers. The cycle goes on.
An increase in diversity in school faculties won't aid students who make up the minority exclusively. It would also improve the education of white pupils who would be provided with a myriad of new experiences and skills they can use later in life.
Who cares if the kid sitting next to you in Calc 221 is named Edward instead of Eduardo? Future employers, that's who! Even if you really don't see the point of expanding your horizons and meeting people of all different races and backgrounds, you can at least appreciate getting a first-rate job once you no longer are taking two-story beer bongs and spending late nights in Helen C. As a recent study conducted at the LaFollete School of Public Affairs shows, college graduates are leaving Wisconsin much more frequently than they are entering the land of cheese, beer and Favre. Many of those who stray from Wisconsin end up in Chicago or the Twin Cities. These happen to be major cities where if you want to be a politician, a businessperson, a cop or — cough, cough — a teacher, you must have experience in dealing with people from a vast variety of races and ethnicities. Even if you choose to stay in Madison, you will still need the skills that only direct contact with individuals unlike yourself can provide.
And don't think you can escape this trend toward diversity by moving out to the suburbs. Verona's public schools have jumped from 11 percent to 26 percent minority enrollment in the past 10 years, Sun Prairie's from 8 percent to 23 percent and Middleton's from 7 percent to 16 percent.
No matter where you look, it is increasingly evident that students and administrators here in Madison must do something to help maximize the minority presence at the university. Also, Madison school district officials as well as officials in the surrounding areas need to step up their efforts to help nurture and support successful young students of color who will eventually filter into the Wisconsin university system.
What can I do, you ask? We, as students, need to put our heads together to help boost the university's current efforts. It's in our best interest.
Any ideas?
Henry Weiner ([email protected]) is a sophomore majoring in political science.
