With four years left in the UW System-wide initiative to increase diversity on campus, Plan 2008, the UW-Madison campus still has a long way to go, according to Vice-Chancellor Paul Barrows.
\There continues to be concerns [about diversity on campus],"" Barrows said. ""According to student surveys, students of color tend to feel less welcome and less safe.""
Plan 2008 was conceived to increase the number of students of color on UW campuses, increase awareness and foster a better environment through various administration- and student-led initiatives.
In a statement on the Plan 2008 Web site, former UW-Madison Chancellor David Ward stated diversity is central to the integrity of the school.
""There is compelling evidence that education in a racially diverse setting is qualitatively better than education in the absence of that diversity,"" Ward said.
In 1998, UW-Madison faculty, administration and students developed goals for the campus under Plan 2008. To achieve these objectives of increasing recruitment and retention of students of color and recruiting faculty of color, the university established the Student Orientation, Advising and Registration program and Welcome Week, which the Web site describes as having a strong multicultural focus.
The university also established the Multicultural Student Center in 1999 and provided further funding to continue student-oriented diversity projects.
""Resources have also been provided to expand the Multicultural Fund, which provides speakers, lectures and performances to enrich life for everyone on campus,"" the Web site states.
UW-Madison graduate student Karen Benjamin, a member of the UW-Madison student group called Promoting Racial and Ethnic Awareness, said she sees diversity as an integral part of her education. PREA, a group of mostly Caucasian students, holds dialogues on campus diversity at different dorms and held a retreat targeted at Caucasian students last fall to discuss issues of diversity.
Benjamin said she thinks Plan 2008 is useful to the work of her organization.
""In trying to increase education and awareness [of diversity issues] it's important to have the administration's support,"" Benjamin said. ""I can point to Plan 2008 and say the administration supports the goal of what we're trying to do.""
However, Benjamin cited UW-Madison's reputation as being unfriendly to minority students as one of the biggest hurdles to increasing diversity on campus.
""Many companies don't recruit on campus anymore,"" Benjamin said. ""They don't want students who don't have experience working with diverse group of people.""
Barrows said the university is slowly making progress on the goals of Plan 2008.
""It's a long uphill battle but we're beginning to make some headway,"" Barrows said.
