University of Wisconsin-Madison Associated Students of Madison (ASM) representatives discussed the demotion of the university’s top diversity official during their first meeting of the spring semester Wednesday night.
The demotion of chief diversity officer Dr. Lavar Charleston earlier Wednesday after an ongoing university review of finances in the Division of Diversity, Equity and Educational Achievement (DDEEA) prompted concern among representatives, who voiced fears the demotion could lead to further restructuring of diversity offices at UW-Madison.
While ASM Chair Dominic Zappia said he had been told by university leadership there wouldn’t be any changes to programs and scholarships hosted under DDEEA, he said he considered it “likely” the division would be changed “especially in light of recent decisions made by the administration.”
“It is important to me that students have a say in that conversation, and that we can have our voices heard in representing what we would like out of that,” Zappia said.
UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin said in a statement following the decision that UW-Madison did not anticipate any direct impact on students, staff and faculty served by and affiliated with DDEEA programs.
Future business
In addition to approving several grants over $4,000 for student organizations, ASM representatives also discussed potential referendums for the spring ASM election and the ongoing search for the next UW-Madison Police Department chief.
ASM Vice Chair Landis Varughese, one of two representatives on the committee tasked with selecting the next chief, discussed public presentations from UWPD chief finalists, including interim Chief Brent Plisch.
Other named finalists include Southern Illinois University Chief of Police Ben Newman and North Carolina A&T State University Deputy Police Chief Bobby Cuthbertson. Finalists' cover letters and resumes are available 48 hours before their public presentations, and feedback can be submitted by Feb. 6 at 3 p.m.
ASM tabled updated financial transparency legislation because the primary sponsor of the legislation was not present and had not consulted chairs of student committees that handle finances with amendments to the original policy. ASM has attempted to pass legislation related to grant transparency and spending since the first meeting of the fall semester but has repeatedly tabled the legislation due to difficulties in implementation.
ASM will consider referendums for the spring elections during the next two consecutive student council meetings both on Feb. 5. Previous ballot referendums led to the construction of the Nicholas Recreation Center in 2020 after 87% of ASM voters approved sports facilities upgrades in the 2014 ASM elections.
Legislative Affairs Chair Ethan Jackowski also discussed a potential letter-writing campaign opposing the permanence of the interim University of Wisconsin System institutional neutrality policy, which restricts statements from universities to topics related to the “core function” of UW System schools and calls for “viewpoint neutrality” in all other statements.
“We're very concerned that not only will it mean that people are going to feel less free to speak out, it means that in times when people do need to speak out, it's going to delay responses,” Jackowski told the Cardinal.
Comments are due by Jan. 28, at 5 p.m., and the interim policy can be made permanent with UW System President Jay Rothman’s signature.
Noe Goldhaber is the college news editor and former copy chief for The Daily Cardinal. She is a Statistics and Journalism major and has specialized on a wide range of campus topics including protests, campus labor, student housing, free speech and campus administration. She has done data analysis and visualization for the Cardinal on a number of stories. Follow her on Twitter at @noegoldhaber.
