WUD Society and Politics Committee and University of Wisconsin students discussed controversies revolving around the 2019 homecoming video which failed to include diverse representation of minority groups on campus, Wednesday night.
Students expressed their concern and said this exclusion of marginalized groups in the video is a product of lack of exposure and education of both the students and faculty.
“As a woman of color I honestly feel like the university is just using me as a statistic to show off how great they are, when it comes to making our experience more comfortable and making us feel like we belong, the university doesn’t care,” UW student Shailaja Singh said.
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Students also said that by promoting the image of diversity on campus with brochures and statistics, producing videos that encompass the opposite is “insincere and performative.”
As a response to the homecoming controversy, UW sent out an email to the university community. According to the email, UW will “develop additional programs to build competencies.”
Students said this response was not only “vague” but also “disingenuous” and did not offer a concrete solution to the current situation. Students proposed a mandatory program, similar to AlcoholEdu or SexWise, to be added for multicultural education as a step toward better education and understanding.
Students said greater diversity education organized by the university is necessary so that members of minority groups are not expected to be the educators. Students suggested that another general education requirement could be implemented in addition to Ethnic Studies.
UW Homecoming video emblematic of deep-seeded racial issues at UW
Students raised concerns that while providing necessary support for the student body and serving as closely-bonded communities, multicultural groups could sometimes hinder students from interacting with people outside the community.
UW exchange student Qiandai Wang said more interactions should be forged, and if students choose to only stay with their own group, they could miss out on opportunities to learn about others.
Moving forward, students want to see greater representation and education at the university level in forms like mandatory course requirements and modules. Students also expects to see the hiring of more people of color.
“If the university’s goal is to appear diverse with their brochures, then they should be enforcing that which is the image they are trying to convey,” one student said.
