As a conscious student at the University of Wisconsin, I can confidently say UW isn’t at the top of any diversity lists. Whether we choose to ignore it or not, Wisconsin is far from being as diverse as we like to believe it is.
UW was ranked 210 out of 254 universities rated in the U.S. News Campus Ethnic Diversity rankings. This number doesn’t seem too surprising when you look around campus. What’s strange is that UW officials like to take pride in the university’s diversity. UW Provost Paul DeLuca said he believes “we celebrate the benefits of a diverse student body at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.” Well DeLuca, we seem to have a discrepancy between your claim and that national study. UW’s fall 2013 Ethnic Report revealed more than 77 percent of students identify as Caucasian. While diversity doesn’t necessarily have to relate to race, the two often find themselves tangled together. It seems clear that UW is far from being as diverse as it claims, a fact that is not being addressed, and potentially even being hindered, by UW administration.
Chancellor Rebecca Blank is preaching diversity while she hopes to raise out-of-state tuition for UW students. Blank is only in her first year as UW chancellor, but she is already adopting Dean of Students Lori Berquam’s motto of “don’t go.” By raising out-of-state tuition for UW, there will likely be fewer out-of-state students who can afford or want to attend this university. In-state tuition isn’t cheap either, currently at $10,403 a year, which is above the national average of $8,893 for public universities. Out-of-state tuition is more than $4,000 higher than the national average of $22,203, at $26,653. This is simply tuition and does not address the concerns of food, shelter, books and other college expenses. When we combine all these numbers together, the price for a year at UW for out-of-state students is well above $40,000. That’s a pretty penny for even the best education, let alone for a public university.
There is no doubt that UW is globally recognized as a top-tier university. I truly believe Wisconsin is deserving of its praise, but what makes it special is its affordability. UW offers students the opportunity of a renown education at a reasonable price. Wisconsin doesn’t discriminate based on socio-economic status of applicants.
Blank’s past involvement in economics and money as the former acting United States Secretary of Commerce may have influence on her push for higher tuition. She argues that UW offers a similar product to University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. I would agree that there isn’t much of a difference between the qualities of the two educations, but the programs Wisconsin offers are more valuable because they are accessible to lower income groups who can’t afford extremely high tuition. While tuition for UW is by no means cheap, its value is hard to beat. That is what makes us special.
While adjusting tuition rates may be disappointing for students’ and family’s checkbooks, the real crime here is the hypocrisy of the university. UW is far from a utopia of diversity. Raising tuition for out-of-state students is only going to deepen the divide of diversity. DeLuca and the university preach that a diverse campus offers “educational benefits provided by a diversity of viewpoints, backgrounds, talents, perspectives and experiences,” but they counter their argument by making it more difficult for out-of-state students to pay for their education. UW officials can’t pride themselves on their excellent education and broad diversity because they don’t have the actions to back it up.
Diversity isn’t based on race or religion, but rather the noticeable heterogeneity of people’s experiences and backgrounds. Being from out of state myself, it’s evident that there is a culture unique to Wisconsin. However, what makes college so awesome is meeting new people with their own life stories and experiences that help shape your college experience.
Blank does have one option which would allow UW to preserve its claim of diversity and still raise tuition. If the university were to increase tuition for out-of-state students, then it should also provide increased financial aid for out-of-state students. More financial aid for these students would partially relieve students from the increasing monetary pressures created from the out-of-state tuition raise. This is an important consideration for Blank and the rest of the UW administration need to keep in mind when they decide whether or not to increase out-of-state tuition. It’s only the Badger way to help each one another, so it’s only fitting that we would increase each proportionally.
UW holds a special place in the hearts of many, and it’s frustrating to see the UW administration act so hypocritically when its actions affect so many current Badgers.
Ryan Smith ([email protected]) is a sophomore majoring in strategic communications.
