Wisconsin Republicans released two proposals Wednesday that would ban transgender girls and women from participating in female sports at every grade level and in college.
The bills, authored by Republican Rep. Barbara Dittrich of Oconomowoc and Sen. Dan Knodl of Germantown, would bar male and transgender female students attending publicly-funded K-12 schools, University of Wisconsin System campuses and state technical colleges from competing in sports designated for females.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison, the flagship of the UW system, proudly operates the so-called Target of Opportunity Program (TOP). It allows academic departments to obtain waivers from the requirement to post job positions publicly and instead hire “diverse” candidates directly. The university provides the irresistible incentive of salary funding for approved hires. Public records of internal TOP requests obtained by my group, the Institute for Reforming Government, show blatant, widespread and pernicious racial classification of faculty applicants that is difficult to reconcile with the Supreme Court’s recent decision.
It was not an isolated push. As Sotomayor prepared for commencement weekend at the University of California, Davis law school, her staff pitched officials there on buying copies of signed books in connection with the event. Before a visit to the University of Wisconsin, the staff suggested a book signing.
Supporters of a plan to merge a two-year University of Wisconsin System campus and nearby technical college in Washington County say they’ll go it alone after Gov. Tony Evers struck the proposal from the state budget this week.
The board overseeing Wisconsin’s public universities on Friday approved spending nearly $60 million to finish several University of Wisconsin-Madison building projects that are over budget.
Chancellor Jennifer L. Mnookin at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, the state’s flagship campus, said in a statement after the ruling that the school had increased its underrepresented undergraduate student population by about 50 percent over the last five years, but still lagged many of their peers. They would need to change admissions policies to comply with the law. “At the same time, I want to reiterate that our commitment to the value of diversity within our community, including racial diversity, remains a bedrock value of the institution.”
Admissions and financial aid, recruitment and retention and support of students, are so intertwined at colleges that it’s natural that people are asking questions after the Supreme Court ruling, said Nicholas Hillman, a professor in the School of Education at UW-Madison.
In 2021, the University of Wisconsin at Madison displayed the flag of the Ho-Chunk Nation on campus to acknowledge the land taken from the tribe.
Last week, the United States Supreme Court ruled against the Biden administration’s attempt to cancel or reduce student loan debt. Nicholas Hillman, a professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis at UW-Madison and expert on higher education finance, joins us to talk about what the decision means for millions of borrowers.
We learn about a potential new bill that would aim to prevent losing top academic talent in Wisconsin to other states.
Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says Republicans will withhold $32 million in funding for the University of Wisconsin System unless it ends diversity, equity and inclusion programming. The statement comes one day after a veto from Democratic Gov. Tony Evers reinstated 188 DEI positions at state campuses with a budget veto.
At least one member of the board overseeing the University of Wisconsin System is pushing for more transparency about the dire financial situation facing some campuses.
The governor protected the 188 positions within the University of Wisconsin System focused on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, a point of emphasis for Vos. Evers eliminated a tax break for people in the top two income brackets, prompting a rebuke from the Assembly leader.
Evers, who used his partial veto powers to rewrite portions of the Republican-authored 2023-25 budget, eliminated the earmarked funding that would have helped Washington County create a community college concept that merged the resources of UW-Milwaukee at Washington County and Moraine Park Technical College, both of which have campuses in West Bend.
Evers was unable to undo the $32 million cut to the University of Wisconsin, which was funding that Republicans said would have gone toward diversity, equity and inclusion — or DEI — programming and staff. The budget Evers signed does allow for the university to get the funding later if it can show it would go toward workforce development and not DEI.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said Thursday the University of Wisconsin System won’t be able to get $32 million the Legislature set aside for its workforce programs unless it eliminates programs addressing diversity and equity.
Another area that Evers vetoed was the elimination of 188 jobs in the University of Wisconsin system that were focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion, a Republican priority. He did not roll back a $32 million University of Wisconsin budget cut aimed at curbing funds for DEI programs, however. Under the Republicans’ proposal, the University of Wisconsin is still able to access those funds, but it must get approval from GOP legislators regarding its use first.
The UW System: A total of $1.7 billion will go to projects across the UW System statewide. Some of the big ticket items in there include $285 million for replacing Camp Randall Sports Center and turning it into an indoor football facility, $347 million for replacing the Engineering Building and demolishing the Computer Aided Engineering Facility at UW-Madison, and $231 million for demolition of Phillips Hall and the completion of a new Science/Health Science Building at UW-Eau Claire.
Aproposed community college pilot in Washington County is in jeopardy after Gov. Tony Evers vetoed $3.35 million in state funding for the project Wednesday.
Evers was unable to undo the $32 million cut to the University of Wisconsin, which was funding that Republicans said would have gone toward diversity, equity and inclusion — or DEI — programming and staff. The budget Evers signed does allow for the university to get the funding later if it can show it would go toward workforce development and not DEI.
Gov. Tony Evers has signed a Republican-drafted state budget that includes income tax cuts for most residents and a major increase in funding for K-12 education, more state aid to local governments and workforce housing. With his powerful veto pen, Evers spared 188 UW System diversity, equity and inclusion staff positions from elimination and eliminated tax cuts for the state’s two highest income brackets.
Evers also vetoed a plan from Republican lawmakers to eliminate 188 positions within the University of Wisconsin System focused on diversity, equity and inclusion programs, but maintained the $32 million cut in funding that was paired with the staffing reduction. Republicans put $32 million into a fund UW officials may request money from as long as the GOP-controlled committee approves the officials’ plans for its use.
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers vetoed a Republican plan Wednesday that would have merged the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee at Washington County with Moraine Park Technical College.
In signing the state’s two-year spending plan Wednesday, Gov. Tony Evers used his partial veto authority to ensure rising public school funding for four centuries, remove proposed tax cuts for top earners, and retain University of Wisconsin System diversity positions.
Evers was unable to undo the $32 million cut to the University of Wisconsin, which was funding that Republicans said would have gone toward diversity, equity and inclusion — or DEI — programming and staff. The budget Evers signed does allow for the university to get the funding later if it can show it would go toward workforce development and not DEI.
Gov. Tony Evers vetoed a Republican attempt to eliminate 188 UW System jobs related to diversity, equity and inclusion Wednesday, cuts that were intended by GOP lawmakers to curb DEI efforts on campuses across the state.
He said he would give the UW System the ability to retain 188 employees working in diversity, equity and inclusion offices that Republicans sought to eliminate.
Tommy Thompson, a former governor and former president of the UW System, said the time is now to address the fiscal future of the statewide public university system and overlaps with technical colleges across Wisconsin.
UW-Madison senior Ciboney Reglos interacts with DEI programming “basically every single day” she’s on campus. She is the senior class diversity, equity and inclusion director and a board member for the Filipinx American Student Organization, one of at least 65 multicultural student groups competing for limited funding and campus programming space.
The U.S. Supreme Court on June 29 ruled race-conscious admissions programs at Harvard College and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (UNC) unlawful in a decision that overruled decades of precedent protecting affirmative action programs at colleges and universities across the country.
Nicholas Hillman is the director of the Student Success Through Applied Research lab at UW-Madison. He said there were thousands of borrowers behind on payments when they were suspended in March 2020.
“So during this pause, we’ve had kind of an artificial view of the significance of student loan repayment,” Hillman said. “And now we’re going to turn the system back on here in a few months, and we’re going to have the same exact problems all over again.”
The Higher Educational Aids Board, which administers the program, did not respond to a request for comment. A similar grant program is available for students of color attending University of Wisconsin System schools.
In a significant blow to President Joe Biden’s agenda, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down his long-awaited student loan debt relief plan Friday, halting a key promise made during his campaign and leaving millions of Americans who expected thousands of dollars in financial relief stuck in uncertainty.
The University of Wisconsin at Madison, the flagship, said on its website that it is assessing whether the Supreme Court’s decision will affect scholarships and financial aid.
Minnesota’s move hasn’t sparked the same fears in other neighboring states. University of Wisconsin officials are expanding a free tuition program that started at its flagship Madison campus to 12 more schools this fall.
In a 6-3 decision, the court ruled Biden’s $400 billion loan forgiveness plan overstepped his authority as president. Hours after the ruling, the president announced he will try to enact a different student debt relief program under the 1965 Higher Education Act, calling the new path “legally sound.”
In a significant blow to President Joe Biden’s agenda, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down his long-awaited student loan debt relief plan Friday, halting a key promise made during his campaign and leaving millions of Americans who expected thousands of dollars in financial relief stuck in uncertainty.
On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court ended a Harvard and University of North Carolina policy of considering a student’s race when accepting applications. We talk with Anuj Desai, a UW-Madison Law professor, about what the ruling means for Wisconsin’s public and private universities.
Colleges and universities can no longer consider race when admitting prospective students following a 6-3 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down the use of race-conscious admissions. In Wisconsin, the decision was applauded by conservative activists and left the University of Wisconsin System reviewing potential effects from the ruling.
The U.S. Supreme Court struck down the consideration of race in college admissions, a ruling that may complicate how Wisconsin’s most competitive universities recruit diverse student bodies.
Professor of Political Science Emeritus at UW-Madison Howard Schweber referred to Thursday’s decision as a ‘sweeping giant statement principle.’ But he says an exception is equally notable.
“The giant loophole comes quite close to the end of the opinion when Chief Justice Roberts says ‘of course, a college or university may still continue race as it applies to a particular student’s individual life story described in their application essay.’ So what really happened here is a shift from one way to think about it is a shift from race consciousness in admissions to race consciousness in application,” Dr. Schweber said.
Evers previously said he would not sign a state budget that includes tax cuts for wealthy residents or maintains a $32 million cut to defund diversity, equity and inclusion programs within the UW System.
Both measures were included in the budget passed Thursday, but Evers has since softened his position and signaled he could support the UW provision because Republicans on the budget-writing committee included a companion provision that allows UW officials to request for the funding to be restored if the committee approves their plans for it.
At the University of Wisconsin Madison, where the acceptance rate is about 60 percent, the admissions website states that the school’s holistic application process is designed to help identify “remarkable students” and “diversity in personal background and experience” and does not use “formulas or charts.”
Despite Evers’ recent call for the Legislature to make significant changes to the budget to ensure that he signs it into law, neither chamber this week made substantive changes to the document before passing it. He opposed the significant tax cut for the wealthiest Wisconsinites as well as the proposed cuts to the UW System’s diversity programs. Both remain in the proposal.
On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court ended a Harvard and University of North Carolina policy of considering a student’s race when accepting applications. We talk with a UW-Madison Law professor about what the ruling means for Wisconsin’s public and private universities.
Thursday’s ruling struck down the longstanding use of race in admissions practices, as the Supreme Court considered two cases brought by conservative legal action group Students for Fair Admissions against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The lawsuits argued the schools discriminated against applicants of Asian heritage, and UNC additionally discriminated against white applicants, as part of its admissions policy.
Under a Republican-led bill, Wisconsin high schoolers who graduate in the top 5% of their class would receive automatic admission to University of Wisconsin System schools, including UW-Madison.
It’s a seemingly simple decision, but UW-Madison political science professor Howard Schweber says the repercussions are a lot more complicated.
In Wisconsin, the decision will likely have the largest effect on the University of Wisconsin System’s most selective campus, UW-Madison. While the school has long struggled to attract students of color, it recently ushered in its most diverse freshman class in the institution’s history. About one-third of last fall’s freshmen, or 2,695 total, identified as students of color.
The Wisconsin Senate voted to pass a two-year budget plan Wednesday that drastically cuts the state’s income taxes, decreases funding for the University of Wisconsin System and excludes many priorities that were originally included in Gov. Tony Evers’ budget proposal including paid family and medical leave and state funding for the Child Care Counts program.
Wisconsin students ranked in the top five percent of their class would receive a guaranteed spot at University of Wisconsin-Madison and at other state universities and technical colleges under a GOP bill.
The Republican-controlled state Senate on Wednesday passed a nearly $99 billion two-year spending plan for the state that again cuts taxes by more than $3 billion, using a windfall of unexpected revenue Wisconsin has amassed navigating the coronavirus pandemic.
Republican lawmakers drafting a bill that would require Wisconsin’s most competitive university to accept every top-ranking high school graduate in the state initially wanted the bill to apply to every high school in the country, lawmakers’ aides told reporters on Wednesday.
Another contentious spending provision in the budget the Senate approved Wednesday is Republicans’ plan to cut the University of Wisconsin System’s budget by $32 million in an attempt to force the school officials to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion offices and programming.
Republican lawmakers unveiled a proposal Wednesday that would guarantee admission to University of Wisconsin schools for in-state high school students who rank among the top 5% of their class.
As approved by the budget committee, the spending plan would cut income taxes by $3.5 billion, boost funding for all K-12 schools by $1 billion, increase wages for state workers, increase transit funding by 2%, boost pay for prosecutors and public defenders and cut $32 million in DEI programming funds from the University of Wisconsin System.
Taxes would be cut across all income levels, with the wealthiest benefiting the most, and the University of Wisconsin would get nearly half a billion dollars less than it asked for under a two-year spending plan up for approval Wednesday in the state Senate.
Republicans plan to make no substantive changes to the state budget, meaning that a cut in funding to the University of Wisconsin System that puts the entire spending plan in jeopardy of being vetoed will remain, legislative leaders said Tuesday.
Wisconsin high school graduates ranking in the top 5% of their class would be guaranteed admission to the University of Wisconsin-Madison under a Republican bill expected to be introduced Tuesday.
Republican lawmakers have earmarked more than $3 million to help Washington County jumpstart a merged community college pilot program. The county is trying to preserve access to college in West Bend amid steep enrollment declines at UW-Milwaukee’s Washington County campus.
Another contentious spending provision is Republicans’ plan to cut the University of Wisconsin System’s budget by $32 million in an attempt to force the school officials to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion offices and programming.
