MADISON, Wis. — Dozens of campuses across the state will limit their diversity efforts in exchange for funds to cover construction projects and employee pay raises.
The move comes after the Universities of Wisconsin Board of Regents made an about-face vote Wednesday night and changed course by approving a deal spearheaded by Assembly Republicans that lacked support just four days earlier.
Wednesday night’s vote unfolded along an 11-6 margin, with three regents who voted against the deal on Saturday flipping their stances to approve what Republicans had called their final offer.
“After further discussion with stakeholders, many stakeholders, from every campus, I have decided to support this resolution,” Regent Vice President Amy Blumenfeld Bogost, who changed her vote, said. “We simply can’t ignore the immense challenges facing our universities. It is clear that this compromise resolution, which includes a much-needed increase for our universities' employee compensation, among other things, will allow the Universities of Wisconsin to continue to pursue opportunities for all underserved students.”
A hiring freeze on diversity positions through the year 2026 is among the concessions made by the regents in exchange for nearly 34,000 employees receiving an already-approved 6% pay raise, along with millions of dollars in funding for multiple construction projects, including a new engineering building at UW-Madison.
During Wednesday's meeting, Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman vowed still to support the board’s vision for underrepresented students.
“That plan has specific goals around a number of issues, including ensuring that we do a better job around dealing with underrepresented students, dealing with students of lower socioeconomic means, the Pell-eligible students, dealing with students who are first-generation students to create an inclusive environment where all are welcome on our campuses and have that sense of belonging,” Rothman explained.
The about-face votes come in the wake of presumed threats from Senate President Chris Kapenga, who seemed to suggest not confirming the nomination of regents who voted against the deal. The only one who flipped that remains unconfirmed is Bogost.
After Wednesday’s vote, lawmakers weighed in on the deal.
“Our universities must be places where students are taught how to think, not what to think,” State Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, who co-chairs the Joint Committee on Finance, said in a statement.
Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos took to social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, to applaud the vote while accusing the governor of a last-minute effort to “scuddle the deal.” Vos said it was “just the first step” in efforts to eliminate “cancerous DEI practices on UW campuses.”
Meanwhile, Gov. Tony Evers released his own statement in which he called the move a “vast overreach” by Republicans and accused them of “relentless political tantrums, ultimatums, and threats of retribution.”
The Republican-controlled Legislature will still need to approve the agreement, and parts of it will also likely need the governor’s approval.