Today the Associated Students of Madison's Diversity Committee planned to host a \shadow day"" in which high school minority students'both racial and sexual minorities'visit our campus and live a day in the life of a college student.
The committee expertly planned and advertised for this event, recruiting many volunteers. After a notably long delay, however, UW administration opted not to fund this event. The rationale implied by pulling funding'that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender high school students cannot see UW campus life while students of color can'is inexcusable. If the event had targeted only racial minorities, it would have been fully funded'and thus a reality.
In practice, it seems the university sees diversity beyond a question of race. UW-Madison provides many services to LGBT students. Yet the university doesn't find sexual diversity to be the sort of diversity that they need to actively recruit.
This event meant to show diverse high schoolers our university. And LGBT students deserve to feel as comfortable on our campus as students of color.
The university defends its decision on the basis of a state statute regarding minority recruitment. The state's definition of minority does not include LGBT people. But the nontimely fashion of the university's decision begs a question of whether funding could be derived from another source. Why are LGBT students treated differently? Is their kind of diversity less valuable than that of racial minorities?
If the diversity committee wants to bring racial and sexual minority students to this campus, the university should embrace their efforts. Actions like these build a more favorable campus climate. The fact that the university denied funding to this event is a shame.
