UW-Milwaukee student leaders expressed outrage Tuesday after learning school officials are considering changing the campus diversity plan.
According to an article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, spokespeople for the university said the Milwaukee Commitment, a four-year effort to improve recruitment and retainment of minorities, is risky considering the unstable law on affirmative action.
They hope to avoid lawsuits similar to those occurring at other universities and say they can do so by changing the wording of the plan, pushing back deadlines and broadening their definition of diversity to include people from beyond metropolitan Milwaukee.
Elizabeth Sengkhamme, President of the UW-Milwaukee Student Association, said school officials did not consult students about the proposal.
“No one came to us and asked us for input,” she said.
She added that by changing the wording of the plan, officials are not holding themselves accountable.
The plan, which began fall of ’99, includes four goals:
1) Increase the scope of UW-Milwaukee’s pre-college programs to reach historically Targeted Racial/Ethnic groups.
2) Increase the percentage of TRE faculty and the percentage of TRE staff to reflect either the U.S. Department of Labor accepted availability and utilization data or the TRE/Disadvantaged composition of UWM students, whichever is greater, and achieve parity in the promotion rate with non-TRE faculty and staff by 2003.
3) Increase the proportion of TRE/D students to reflect their numbers in the metropolitan Milwaukee population and, through curricular and academic support, achieve parity in the retention and graduation rates with non-TRE/D students by 2003.
4) Increase institutional accountability for achieving diversity and improving the campus climate.
The university is considering removal of both the TRE expressions and the dates.
The plan is consistent with the UW System Plan 2008: Educational Quality Through Racial and Ethnic Diversity. It states, “UWM recognizes that it must continually monitor the diversity of its students, faculty, staff and curriculum so that it can cultivate a campus environment that reflects the diversity already present in today’s workforce, global markets and institutions.”
Student leaders from across Wisconsin stressed the need for diversity in college campuses.
“Wisconsin needs these plans to recruit minority groups, which are vitally important,” Matt Fargen, president of United Council said. “These are people who have traditionally been left out of the loop. We need to break the poverty cycle, and these programs are important for Wisconsin and its economy.”
Board of Regents member Tommie Jones agreed.
“In general, diversity recruitment is very important, and I’ve been a strong supporter of that,” he said.
According to the article in the Journal Sentinel, since fall 1991, enrollment of minority students at UW-Milwaukee has increased from 11.9 percent to almost 17 percent. The minority enrollment for all UW schools is around 8 percent.
Sengkhammee said diversity is important to students at UW-Milwaukee.
“Milwaukee is the second most segregated city in the U.S.,” she said. “We don’t want that to reflect on our campus.”