The University of Wisconsin is preparing a Diversity Forum Thursday featuring keynote speakers and presentations from student organizations across campus just weeks after the campus reacted to reports alleging the university discriminates against Caucasian and Asian applicants.
UW Vice Provost for Diversity and Climate Damon Williams said the forum will run Oct. 6 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will focus on bringing together national and local perspectives through several speeches and sessions by both students and professors.
Williams said this year’s forum had a “robust agenda” in terms of a diverse range of topics including educational crises facing male youth of color, as well as LGBTQ, immigration and campus climate issues.
“This is the most diverse group of topics we’ve addressed in this year’s forum,” Williams said. “What we’re trying to do is create a space for constituents to see themselves as a part of the diversity forum and of course to have the work that’s happening campus-wide to be championed.”
Williams added registration for this year’s forum has increased slightly from previous years. He believes this is a result of increased advertising efforts rather than the recent controversy triggered by the Center for Equal Opportunity’s reports on diversity that targeted UW.
CEO is a conservative think-tank that fights against affirmative action and bilingual education.
The Associated Students of Madison Legislative Affairs Chair Hannah Somers said in an email to The Badger Herald that the CEO report was an example of why the forum could prove beneficial to students.
“In light of the CEO report, it is imperative that students have the opportunity to be educated about diversity and campus climate,” she said. “The upcoming diversity forum is a great example of diversity efforts on campus.”
However, Williams added a University of Michigan research group that has worked with CEO will present at Thursday’s forum and may present data next semester showing how students benefit from diverse interactions in education.
“We wanted to create a venue that would allow for the sharing of ideas, would allow for shared conversation and would allow for a number of topics to potentially live and themes to live every year,” Williams said. “So we’re really excited about that.”
A key new initiative Williams will highlight on Thursday is the “Beyond the Game Initiative,” a collaboration with the Athletic Department, the School of Education and the Office of the Vice Provost which will focus on leadership development of UW student athletes.
New York University education professor Pedro Noguera will present the keynote presentation on educational disparities surrounding African American and Latino men. Urban League Executive Director Kaleen Caire will then speak to the local challenges of these issues and their plans to open gender-specific charter schools in the Madison community. Somers emphasized the educational opportunity the forum would present to students and said she hopes there will be a large turnout of students.
Williams said the office is already looking into changes to the Diversity Forum for next year, such as moving the forum to a Friday when more students may be able to attend. Williams also discussed rearranging the forum in a different format to include more presentations from the campus community, which would allow student groups to present proposals and join the forum.
“The biggest thing is just wanting to ensure [the] program has breadth and depth [without being] overwhelming,” Williams said.
