Diversity is in danger on this campus, as it has been for the last 163 years. UW needs ambitious, effective leadership to achieve a nurturing space for all its students, which comes at times from the Office of Diversity and Climate, classroom education, exchange programs and groups aimed at marginalized students.
For the last 10 years, the Multicultural Student Coalition has been one source of a dedicated diversity agenda. But after a request for nearly $1.3 million in funding for 2012-13, the future of that agenda is uncertain. With the $1,270,488.20 requested, up from the $220,586.88 received this year, MCSC hopes to add 17 more staff members, including three full-time employees. They also plan to increase services on campus and move into an off-campus space they say will be much more conducive to their mission. To put it simply, they are gearing up for an all-out effort to tackle diversity issues at UW.
That is an admirable, essential goal, but in the process MCSC has risked everything by compromising its credibility and putting its funding in danger. A waiver MCSC submitted to the Student Services Finance Committee is troubling in its disregard for balancing the organization’s overall mission with its idealism. The last segment of the document details how MCSC is unwilling to provide a “prioritized list of spending” because that “concretely looks like us ranking which students deserve services paid for by their own segregated fees.”
Diversity is an area where idealistic goals are needed, but not without a realistic approach to achieving them. There are limited funds available to student groups on this campus, and there will always be organizations without the funding they need. SSFC’s core purpose is to find the best way to distribute segregated fees, and they make use of strict regulations to achieve some semblance of fairness. SSFC is, for a lack of a better word, the accountant of the Associated Students of Madison. They do not make the rules; they ensure they are followed.
While this board agrees there are flaws in the SSFC system, a funding application is not the place to fight them. Charges the system does not work should be taken very seriously, especially from an organization as prominent as MCSC. ASM has provided means to evaluate and change it, and MCSC should pursue their concerns with ASM at the appropriate time.
MCSC’s difficulty meeting SSFC deadlines is also troubling. SSFC dropped the ball in providing student groups with the appropriate amount of time to turn in paperwork, but MCSC is also at fault for not keeping in better contact concerning something as important as their budget. These are annual, set deadlines. There is no reason to not be prepared.
Inclusiveness and the use of students’ segregated fee dollars are both real-world issues. Handling them requires all sides to play the part of professional organizations. No matter what importance they ascribe themselves, MCSC and SSFC can’t both be brick walls. Change must come from both parties.
MCSC has the potential to play an even greater role in the future of inclusiveness at UW, but only if they act with the tact and power to bring all parts of campus together. Money may bring the power, but the tactfulness to solve some of UW’s biggest problems can only come from a true display of leadership and cooperation.
