Republican state legislators were prepared to reduce funding for the University of Wisconsin campuses on Tuesday as tensions between the GOP-controlled legislature and school administration over initiatives to promote diversity and inclusion continue.
The vote comes only a few days after Republicans rejected funding for the university’s most important construction project: a new engineering center on the main Madison campus.
Republican State Lawmakers Target University of Wisconsin Funding
Republicans who control the legislature and the state’s university system have long-standing disagreements. Nevertheless, this year’s battle is mostly focused on free speech problems and UW’s efforts to enhance diversity and racial fairness.
The state’s top Republican, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, stated before the budget-writing committee meeting on Tuesday that he wanted it to eliminate all funding for UW diversity projects. He calculated that the savings would come to $32 million.
Officials from the university did not respond to messages requesting comments right away.
Vos has in the past said that school diversity offices are a waste of tax dollars and that they exacerbate racial disparities.
In the meantime, Jay Rothman, president of the UW System, hired a new chief diversity officer with a $225,000 annual salary who started work on Monday. At a UW Board of Regents meeting earlier this month, he kept the hire a secret.
The altercation mirrors a larger cultural conflict over college diversity initiatives that are taking on around the country.
According to an Associated Press study published in April, Republican lawmakers have introduced more than 30 proposals this year in 12 states to restrict initiatives to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in higher education.
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Democratic Senator Criticizes GOP’s Funding Cuts
Sen. Kelda Roys, a Democrat whose district includes the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, called Vos a petulant person and criticized the movement to eliminate diversity policies.
Due to low revenue from a ten-year tuition freeze and rising costs due to inflation, the UW regents asked the Legislature for an increase in state funding of about $436 million over the ensuing two years in September.
Vos announced that the proposal, which was over $130 million more than even Democratic Governor Tony Evers had asked for for the University of Washington, will be rejected by the budget committee.
Given the anticipated budget cuts, Tuesday’s vote may leave the UW System with around $500 million less money than what managers had projected it would need.
As UW administrators try to fix funding gaps, students may suffer the most negative effects.
Rothman offered undergraduate tuition and fee hikes ranging from 3% to 5.4% for students at the 13 colleges in the UW System, even though Evers proposed giving UW $130 million less than it desired.
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