Abigail Shimniok

The Universities of Wisconsin Board of Regents voted 11-6 in favor of cutting spending to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives on Dec. 13, 2023. The vote will freeze all DEI hires for the next three years as well as restructure and redefine one third of the system’s current staff.
The deal was made in exchange for $800 million in state funding, including overdue pay increases to UW system employees.
The decision comes following the Oct. 2023 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court to end race conscious admissions to universities.
Resources that fall under UW-Platteville’s DEI Programming include the Patricia A. Doyle Center for Gender and Sexuality, the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs, TRIO student support services, the Disability Access Center, the Wright Center for Non-Traditional and Veteran Students and many others.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers expressed his “disappointment” with the board’s decision in a statement released the day following the budget cuts. “I continue to urge Legislative Republicans to release the UW System employee raises and investments that were already negotiated, agreed upon and approved in the biennial budget,” Evers stated. “They should’ve done so months ago, and they can and should do so today without further delay.”
Evers is among many criticizing Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and other Republicans for using a procedural loophole to hold back over $32 million in preapproved pay raises for UW employees after Evers, a Democrat, vetoed a bill that would have cut the system’s DEI spending.
Recently, lawsuits have been filed against universities in the UW system claiming DEI programs and opportunities are discriminating against students who are not from diverse backgrounds.
Conservative legal group Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty alleged in a lawsuit that a Wisconsin State Bar fellowship opportunity offered at the Universities of Wisconsin and Marquette University law schools violated the constitution by giving preferential treatment to non-white students.
The Wisconsin State Bar categorizes the program, which provides a paid summer internship to students following their first year of law school, as serving “students with backgrounds that have been historically excluded from the legal field.”
Executive director of the State Bar Larry Martin issued a statement after the lawsuit was filed citing that the State Bar has “long considered the program an important tool to support Wisconsin law school students.”
Following budget cuts to DEI programming and potential legal backlash, many UW schools fear to see resources offered to students greatly diminished.