In what some called a surprising move, Shadow Day, a program designed to give high school seniors of color and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students the opportunity to interact with current UW-Madison students, was cancelled by the Associated Students of Madison Diversity Committee after controversy over the inclusion of LGBT students.
The committee announced the cancellation at the Plan 2008 forum Nov. 16.
Jennifer Epps, chair of the diversity committee, was notified Nov. 7 that the UW-Madison Office of Admissions would not provide the $8,000 the committee requested to fund charter buses, lunch and advertising for Shadow Day.
\[Administrators] decided that we had to remove LGBT students from the target student list or else we wouldn't receive any funding for the day,"" according to an e-mail from event organizers to UW-Madison students who had planned to participate in Shadow Day.
Approximately 100 to 150 UW-Madison students had signed up to host 30 to 50 high school students from the Milwaukee area on Shadow Day, according to Ted Koehler, a project diversity intern with ASM.
Paul Barrows, vice chancellor of student affairs at UW-Madison, said there were concerns about the ""political climate"" when funding an event targeting LGBT students.
""We have to be careful about how we work with schools when conducting [LGBT] recruiting,"" Barrows said.
Though UW-Madison currently targets students for whom they have specific initiatives, such as students of color, Barrows said ""we have to acknowledge the current political context.""
UW-Madison does not presently recruit students based on sexual orientation and LGBT is currently not considered minority status under Wisconsin state statute.
Epps said she understands the university is accountable to many different interests.
But some speculate unarticulated factors contributed to the cancellation.
""I think there were concerns about the reception of the day from faculty and alumni,"" Koehler said. ""Maybe this is a little liberal for them. I think that this would possibly cause a lot of controversy.""
Koehler added that there were also ""possibly concerns that the money could be better spent.""
Epps said her committee decided not to hold the event after hearing of the administration's decision because, as a student initiative, they felt all decisions should be made by students.
""When student-led initiatives get taken over by the administration, they tend to get watered down,"" she said. ""Students should have the first priority. Students should dictate how the campus looks.""
Barrows said he regretted the cancellation.
""I was disappointed [the students] had an all or nothing strategy. I had hoped they would work with us to continue to find creative ways to target LGBT students,"" he said.
Barrows said he hopes to begin a dialogue with students and faculty to address the issue of LGBT recruitment.
The ASM Diversity Committee will release an official statement about the event Nov. 26.
