University of Wisconsin administration and students planned and held two separate forums Tuesday, Jan. 20 to discuss racially driven issues on campus.
Union South’s Varsity Hall was filled with hundreds of students, faculty and administrators holding table conversations on topics such as student life and curriculum and how those fit into the university’s Diversity Framework.
Organizer of the About Race UW event, DeShawn McKinney, who also organized December’s Die-In Demonstration, said he saw a lack of outreach from the university to involve students in the planning process for their forum.
For that reason, he organized his own.
“We are the closest to the issues and the problems that occur here on campus,” McKinney said. “They didn’t even attempt to reach out to us.”
In a message to the About Race UW Facebook page, students were urged to turn out minimally for the administration-held event, however students who did turn out for the event expressed that there was a genuine desire from faculty to listen and engage in these conversations, and they would have liked to seen even more students.
Assistant Vice Chancellor Patrick Sims said the university, while not reaching out to the entire student body, selected certain groups including Associated Students of Madison and the Graduate Student Network At the event.
Students were given a list of “Non-negotiable demands of Black students attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison,” to discuss and vote on. Some of the demands which were favored included the implementation of a disciplinary policy for acts of racism with educational corrections, and methods for increasing both enrollment and retention of black students and faculty.
At one of the tables at the Union South event, DeVon Wilson, Assistant Dean in the Academic Advancement and Pathways Student Academic Services Programs, made a similar argument for retention of students of color.
“We need to have a much more direct conversation about what does it mean to have students who are leaving who should be graduating from here,” Wilson said. “I would like to see proud Badgers [of all color] coming back for Homecoming. The way you identify with your institution is important.”
In a letter sent from McKinney to facilitators of the diversity forum, he expressed a similar sentiment about the connection students of color feel to the university.
“In December, the student body was ignited, for some it was the first time they felt proud to call themselves a Badger, and we will work to ensure that it is not the last,” McKinney said.
Assistant Vice Chancellor Patrick Sims said the university is planning on maintaining the momentum and continue holding events and discussions for faculty and students. Students at the About Race event also held this attitude.
“There have been failed diversity initiatives in the past, and there hasn’t been a strong, unified front on campus for a long time,” McKinney said. “What happened in December was the largest thing since the civil rights movement, so it’s been decades since students have stood together in such a way, and now that we have that, we want to keep it going and keep growing.”
McKinney said the momentum that started in December will keep in motion as he works with students to organize and solidify plans for making real changes at UW.
