On the UW campus, you would be hard-pressed to find someone who would disagree that UW is a predominantly Caucasian school. Out of the estimated 39,000 attendees, 4,000 students are classified as members of minority groups.

Because of gaps in ethnic representation, some students of color say their academic experience at UW has been hindered.

Others say, however, that UW does offer aspects of diversity, and that student groups working to increase diversity are making a difference.

Undergraduate Life

UW senior Ifeyinwa Offor said she has witnessed very different aspects of university life that a white student would never face because of that gap in racial representation.

?This place is very hostile,? Offor said. ?Racism is very subtle.?

Growing up in the Madison area, Offor says she attended schools with few minority students and knew UW?s demographics would be similar.

?I knew it was primarily all white,? she said. ?It was a concern but I thought ?I?ve made it this far.??

Even so, she remembers her surprise at Madison?s racial environment when she began classes as a freshman.

?What surprised me was that I thought I was coming to a university where everyone would have [had] a similar cultural experience and intellect,? Offor said. ?But academic intelligence does not mean you have cultural intelligence.?

Offor said many students at Madison do not understand cultural differences or how to adequately address them. Offor said that when students of color are asked how to be referred to by their peers or offer dissenting views of affirmative action, this reinforces the problem of cultural comprehension.

?[People do not believe] students [of color] got in because of other reason like their grades, scores, and merit,? she said.

Offor said many students of color have left UW as a result of the cultural gap and a generally negative atmosphere.

?A lot of students have been hurt,? Offor said.

Furthermore, she says UW?s administration does not do much to prevent students who say they?ve been affected by a lack of diversity from withdrawing.

?No one actually asks the student ?why did you leave?,? she said. In addition, Offor said she does not believe UW to be as concerned with retaining students of color than simply admitting them.

Tim Tyson, a professor in the African-American Studies Department at UW, shares Offor?s views on the inability of some student to understand culture variations.

?The white students here don?t have much experience in dealing with people who come from different cultures,? Tyson said.

Furthermore, he believes that students in general do not put forth much effort to better understand diverse races.

?They come [to the department] to do the ethnic studies requirement and they?re so shocked that they have to put in work,? Tyson said.

Graduate Experience

Despite some unpleasant experiences as a UW undergraduate, Offor said she is considering attending the university?s Law School.

?The Law School, unlike the undergraduate, is definitely making strides and is very committed to diversity,? Offor said. ?It seems like a climate that would be satisfactory to me.?

Unlike Offor, Tyina Steptoe is a third-year graduate student in the Department of History and says there is a lack in diversity at UW.

Having completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Austin, another mainly Caucasian university, she felt like the transition to Madison would be an easy one.

?[I thought], structurally, the campus wouldn?t be very hard to fit into,? Steptoe said. ?I knew coming here that Wisconsin is a pretty white school, I guess I didn?t expect the town itself to be quite as white.?

Back in Austin, Steptoe says she could leave campus area and enter neighborhoods that were primarily Latin or African- American. For Steptoe, that same picture does not exist for the greater UW area.

?I really had a hard time my first year,? Steptoe said about trying to adapt to everything from finding an accommodating hair salon, to feeling comfortable in restaurants.

Professor Craig Werner teaches in the African-American Studies Department and says diversity is an actuality for UW.

?[UW is] not diverse but at the same time people aren?t aware of the diversity that is here,? Werner said. ?I teach a class on James Baldwin and Miles Davis and out of 26 students, 15 are non-white. In my larger lecture class 25 to 30 percent are non-white and 20 percent are African-American.?

Apart from classes themselves being more racially varied, Werner says there is a need for more honest conversation between the differing groups and more action on the university?s side.

?[UW needs to] meet the students needs, the students of color,? Werner said.

Student organizations are one way UW promotes diversity and awareness. Groups such as the Multicultural Student Coalition and Wisconsin Black Student Union sponsor diversity events as well as providing ways for minority students to feel more comfortable on campus.

MSC hosts diversity programs with informational fairs, guest lectures and conversation opportunities between students with differing backgrounds.

?A lot of what we do is providing services for students,? MSC executive member Yousses Sawah said. ?We are geared towards [helping] students of color to make this campus better.?

Sawah said improving campus through education is key to creating a better cultural climate.

Plan 2008, drafted primarily by The Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, is an education-based project working towards a more diverse campus.

According to its website, the plan aims to ?Significantly improving the representation and academic success of members of four targeted ethnic groups, namely, American Indian, African-American, Latino/a, and Southeast Asian-American, among the student body, the faculty and the staff.? Plan 2008 also hopes, ?To improve the classroom and social climate of this campus for those groups.?

?[Currently] we?re conducting a mid-point review that is looking at what has already been done,? said Assistant Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, Ruby Paredes.

Paredes works as a staff consultant for Plan 2008 and says their agenda is making progress. Once their report is concluded, Paredes and those involved with the plan will look at what to focus on for the rest of the five years.

Generation 2008, MSC, and ASM are some of the student organizations working with the Vice-Chancellor towards the implementation of Plan 2008.

Generation 2008 Director Sakhouy Lay said Plan 2008 will improve students? academic experience at UW.

?We want students to know that education is greatly enhanced by diversity on campus,? Lay said.

A mandatory ?diversity seminar? is one aspect of the proposed academic plan.

?It?s a class that all freshmen would be required to take,? Sawah said. ?Students of color will structure it.?

At this point, some students say they look to UW?s administration to help with the diversity problem.

Offor agrees with him. ?People need to be aware [of the problem] all of the time.?