In order to recognize gaps in accessibility and inclusivity, universities must first find spaces where those losses exist. For 18 years, UW-Madison has hosted a Diversity Forum to recognize just that.
The forum followed a report that found more than one-third of minority students feel unwelcome at UW-Madison. A task force on campus has been eager to combat these feelings by engaging in a dialogue with underrepresented students in search of improvements.
"You got to have real conversations, and that sometimes can be vulnerable and scary for folks," UW-Madison Chief Diversity Officer Patrick Sims said. "But that's where the breakthroughs really happen where people really let their hair hang down metaphorically and get to hearing, listening and possible learning."
From 2009 to 2018, there was a 3.3 percent increase in minority student enrollment at UW-Madison. At the same time, there was a 2.1 percent increase in minority graduate students.
Currently, 10.5 percent of all undergraduates belong to marginalized communities, which includes African American, Native America, Hispanic, Latinx and Southeast Asian students. 10.6 percent of new students, including freshmen and transfers, are fit into these minority groups.
Due to changing demographics of Wisconsin, 15 percent of in-state freshmen are minority students.
UW-Madison’s School of Nursing has the largest amount of undergraduate minority students enrolled at 17 percent.
The report also touched on faculty, noting 21.3 percent are racial and ethnic minorities. This is a 4.4 percent increase over a period of 10 years. Of those faculty members, 13.4 percent are exclusively instructional academic staff.
The reports also featured reports on female students and members of
During the panel, UW-Madison senior Kent Mok and graduate Miona Grae Short shared the best aspects of their college experience, noting mentors and community spirit as significant components of the campus.
As a native of the Philippines, Mok discussed how he found mentors and peer support at the university via the Posse scholarship program, which recognizes high school students with academic and leadership potential that could be overlooked by college selection processes.
He also said the Posse discussions provided him with a space to talk about being a student of color on a predominantly white campus with others who shared similar sentiments.
Short is a spoken-word artist who became the first black woman to earn an undergraduate degree in astrophysics from UW-Madison last spring.
She shared her experiences with the First Wave Learning Community on campus, which is a scholarship program that gives artistic students the opportunity to hone in on their abilities. It was here that she “met some of the best human beings in the world.”
The Diversity Forum is the feature event of the Division of Diversity, Equity
