Universities of Wisconsin Officials Reach Deal With Republicans to Scale Back Diversity Positions

Universities of Wisconsin Officials Reach Deal With Republicans to Scale Back Diversity Positions

This is a good start, but DEI policies should be driven out of higher education completely.

CBS News reports:

Wisconsin university system reaches deal with Republicans to scale back diversity positions

Faced with a demand from Republican lawmakers to axe diversity initiatives or go without raises and other funding, Universities of Wisconsin officials announced Friday that they’ve agreed to freeze hiring for diversity positions, drop an affirmative action faculty hiring program at UW-Madison and create a position at the flagship campus focused on conservative thought.

Conservatives have long criticized the UW system as a bastion of liberalism. Democrats have accused Republicans of holding employees hostage by blocking pay raises. They argue that diversity initiatives enhance the collegiate experience and play a crucial role in identifying promising students who grew up with fewer resources. The fight in Wisconsin reflects a broader cultural battle playing out across the nation over college diversity initiatives.

“In recent years we’ve seen a growing emphasis on concepts that amplify ideas of division, exclusion and indoctrination on our campuses,” Assembly Republican Speaker Robin Vos, who brokered the deal with UW, said in a statement. “Our caucus objective has always been aimed at dismantling the bureaucracy and division related to DEI and reprioritizing our universities towards an emphasis on what matters — student success and achievement.”

Republican lawmakers in June refused to release funding for a new engineering building at UW-Madison and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos in October blocked pay raises for employees across the system until it cut spending on positions that promote diversity. Vos refused to allocate funding for the raises even though the state budget that Republicans approved this summer included a 6% raise over the next two years.

Vos and UW officials have been working behind the scenes on a compromise, however. Under the deal released Friday, the system would freeze hiring for diversity positions through the end of 2026 and shift at least 43 diversity positions to focus on “student success.” The system also would eliminate any statements supporting diversity on student applications.

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