The pomp and circumstance of homecoming week is colored by scores of red and white balloons and flowers, hoards of alumni returning to their old stomping grounds and a slate of events celebrating all things UW-Madison.
But despite being one of the most enduring traditions on campus, homecoming has not always been as representative and inclusive as it could be, according to Tracy Williams-Maclin, the Wisconsin Alumni Association Director of Diversity and Inclusion.
The fact that UW-Madison has historically been a predominantly white institution means the majority of faces seen throughout homecoming weekend share a similar complexion, potentially alienating important groups of alumni.
“The Wisconsin Alumni Association admits that we have managed events in a way that didn’t resonate with diverse alumni,” Williams-Maclin said. “Homecoming has always been a great event but we need to think about all the different types of people who make up the university. It should be for everyone, not just the majority.”
For this reason, homecoming organizers tried to create a more robust lineup of multicultural events this year.
New Multicultural Student Center Director Joshua Johnson said the group specifically focused on creating sustainable events.
“Multicultural homecomings have been off and on for years,” Johnson said. “Last year the MSC was very involved in helping to get [multicultural homecoming] off the ground and people said it was successful.”
Last year’s success encouraged the WAA to expand its offerings this year.
Events will range from a welcome reception and a football game-watch party to a dance competition organized by the National Pan-Hellenic Council.
The focal point of the programming will come Saturday afternoon at a forum designed to highlight diversity efforts on campus.
Winslow Sargeant, the Small Business Administration chief counsel for advocacy, will deliver a keynote address at the forum.
In addition, there will be an overview of campus organizations that promote diversity and tours of campus resources.
The WAA partnered with various students groups, including First Wave, the Multicultural Student Center and the UW Office of Diversity to try and form relationships with alumni and foster connections between alumni and current students.
Organizers hope a career networking panel will connect current multicultural students with alumni who can act as mentors and create a continued sense of community as those students graduate and move forward with their careers.
Johnson considers these types of relationships crucial to building and maintaining diversity on campus.
“Wisconsin is a predominantly white school and it can be hard for [minority] students to feel connected,” Johnson said. “For them to hear what it means to graduate and enter the job force where there may not be as many people like you is important.”
Williams-Maclin and Johnson agree establishing a network between the MSC and the WAA is a critical pipeline to turn those hopes into a reality.
“We want undergraduate [students] to envision what they can become,” Williams-Maclin said. “Knowing that our campus is not very diverse, to see people from your background doing great things is inspiring.”
Additionally, the homecoming committee has been too culturally homogenous in the past, according to Williams-Maclin.
“With that, the perspective is going to be a certain way because many groups aren’t involved,” she said.
Therefore, a long-term goal of organizers is to create a more diverse homecoming committee that will make events throughout the entire week more inclusive and will render separate multicultural events unnecessary.
“Making the committee more diverse would spur conversation and create different perspectives of doing things and allow for a more open environment,” Williams-Maclin said.
While Homecoming may come around only one weekend each year, Johnson considers the programming necessary to furthering year-round diversity efforts on campus.
“It can be harder for minority students to find community on campus, to grow that strong connection to being a Badger,” Johnson said. “We want to ensure people have positive memories and for them to feel as though they have a community to help them be successful moving forward.”
