UW-Madison Chancellor John Wiley will address the needs of students, faculty and administrators in a three-part listening session series to begin next week.
In response partly to fears of hostility toward Muslim students since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Wiley wants to get a feel for the campus climate and gather feedback about how it can be improved.
“I think it is fair to say that virtually everyone from an ethnic or racial minority group feels some increased risk right now,” Wiley said. “We want to find ways of solving campus climate problems for these targeted groups, as well as the entire campus community.”
The 90-minute sessions, which are free and open to the public, will begin at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 16 in Memorial Union. Subsequent listening sessions will be held Wednesday, Oct. 24 and Thursday, Oct. 25.
“These are opportunities for people to come forward, talk about their experiences and offer solutions to any problems they feel exist at this university as a result of the attacks,” Wiley said.
Chancellor Wiley also announced his concerns about campus climate in a full-page advertisement taken out in campus and city newspapers. The ad, printed exactly a month after the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, thanked the UW and Madison community for working together to overcome the tragedy.
“Your work has given us the opportunity to come together to grieve, to cope and to celebrate the values that we all hold dear,” Wiley wrote.
He also asked that community members make a special effort to appreciate the diversity of the campus and city.
“We should recognize that those differences are at the heart of the notions of liberty and justice for all,” Wiley said.
Wiley said he will host a variety of listening sessions, discussions and deliberations on the UW campus to “fight the darkening forces of terror.”
According to Kent Barrett of University Communications, Wiley’s plans had been in the making for some time now.
“There’s been a lot of talk about campus climate in the wake of this [tragedy],” Barrett said.
Last week, the Multicultural Student Coalition and the Palestine Right to Return Coalition sent a letter to Wiley demanding he publicly approach this topic. Barrett said while Wiley had crafted his plan independently of these organizations’ requests, it is important for everyone to be involved.
Bina Ahmad, a member of the Palestine Right to Return Coalition and MCSC, said she would like to see Wiley be more proactive in fighting harassment of minority students on campus.
“It’s a very positive step in the right direction, but I think he needs to do more,” Ahmad said. “We need more preventative, active measures.”
Along with the letter to Wiley, which asked Wiley to go on television to condemn racism, the two organizations compiled a list of hate crimes and hate speech that has occurred on campus and nationally since the attacks.
According to Ahmad, hate crimes have been prevalent in weeks following the attacks.
But UW Police Chief Susan Riseling said this is news to her.
“We’ve had no reports,” Riseling said.
Ahmad said there have been plenty of cases, but students are reluctant to report them.
“People have not wanted to talk to them,” she said.
Instead, Ahmad said, these reports have come to her attention through the American Civil Liberties Union and an e-mail address they have set up to provide students with an outlet.
Riseling said this is not helpful in curbing hate crimes on campus.
“We want to know; we want people to call us if they’ve been the victim of any crime, particularly a hate crime,” she said.
