The tragic suicides of young LGBT people across the country in recent weeks have finally brought to light on a national scale the prejudice and bigoted behavior of Americans young and old. Here at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Shared Governance Committee of the Associated Students of Madison is working to build a united front across campus to fight bigoted behavior and create a campus climate in which all people, regardless of sexual orientation, gender, race or religious affiliation, can live freely and with the full support of our community. 

At last week’s Shared Governance meeting we began a conversation about how to support all UW-Madison students and proactively combat discriminatory behavior through work in a variety of areas of campus. In one short hour we generated a number of items for specific shared governance committees to begin working on. Shared Governance will vote on an action plan outlining detailed proposals for nearly a dozen committees in two weeks.

The action plan will specify how each committee will help improve the campus community. We will concentrate our efforts on dissemination of information as well as policy and cultural changes on campus. We intend for these actions and other efforts to result in a more integrated and inclusive campus, setting an example for other universities across the state and nation.

As we move forward, the ASM Shared Governance Committee urges our fellow students to join the conversation on our blog:  sharedgov.wordpress.com. Student opinions and ideas are integral parts of the developing action plan that, if adopted, will only succeed by the will of students to change the culture of our campus.

– ASM Shared Governance Leadership

The tragic suicides of young LGBT people across the country in recent weeks have finally brought to light on a national scale the prejudice and bigoted behavior of Americans young and old. Here at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Shared Governance Committee of the Associated Students of Madison is working to build a united front across campus to fight bigoted behavior and create a campus climate in which all people, regardless of sexual orientation, gender, race or religious affiliation, can live freely and with the full support of our community.

At last week’s Shared Governance meeting we began a conversation about how to support all UW-Madison students and proactively combat discriminatory behavior through work in a variety of areas of campus. In one short hour we generated a number of items for specific shared governance committees to begin working on. Shared Governance will vote on an action plan outlining detailed proposals for nearly a dozen committees in two weeks.

The action plan will specify how each committee will help improve the campus community. We will concentrate our efforts on dissemination of information as well as policy and cultural changes on campus. We intend for these actions and other efforts to result in a more integrated and inclusive campus, setting an example for other universities across the state and nation.

As we move forward, the ASM Shared Governance Committee urges our fellow students to join the conversation on our blog: sharedgov.wordpress.com. Student opinions and ideas are integral parts of the developing action plan that, if adopted, will only succeed by the will of students to change the culture of our campus.

• ASM Shared Governance Leadership