Universities of Wisconsin unveil plan to recover $32 million cut by Republicans in diversity fight
The Universities of Wisconsin unveiled a $32-million workforce development plan Monday in an attempt to recover funds that were cut by the Republican-controlled Legislature earlier this year in a fight over campus diversity programs.
The Legislature’s budget committee voted in June to eliminate 188 diversity, equity and inclusion positions within the university system and slash UW’s budget by $32 million, which is the amount Republicans estimated would be spent on so-called DEI programs over the next two years.
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers used his partial veto power to protect the DEI positions, but he was unable to prevent the $32-million cut. The budget Evers signed into law in July allows UW to recover the funding if it can show the money will be spent on workforce development and not DEI.
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers is suing the Republican-controlled Legislature, arguing that it is obstructing basic government functions.
The spending plan that UW President Jay Rothman announced Monday would direct funds to four “high-demand” fields: engineering, healthcare, business and computer science. The plan allocates $2.5 million each year to UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee, and $1 million to each of the system’s 11 other universities.
“This plan is exactly what the Legislature is looking for — a concentrated emphasis on adding more graduates to the workforce in key areas,” Rothman said. “I would hope everyone would agree that this is in the best interest of the state of Wisconsin.”
The proposal must be approved by the UW Board of Regents, which was set to meet Thursday, before going to the Legislature’s budget committee.
GOP leaders last month continued their efforts to force the university system to slash its DEI spending by withholding pay raises that were approved in the budget for UW employees. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, the state’s top Republican, has promised not to approve the raises until the university system cuts DEI spending by $32 million.
Three civil rights groups are filing a lawsuit challenging President Trump’s executive order that prohibits federal agencies, as well as contractors and grant recipients, from offering certain diversity training that the president has deemed “anti-American.”
“Withholding those pay raises, in my judgment, it’s both unfair and it’s wrong,” Rothman said. He did not say whether he expected the workforce spending plan to help persuade Republicans to approve pay raises.
Vos signaled Monday that he will not act on the workforce plan until the university system makes changes to its diversity programming.
“It looks like a good proposal. Once we work out an agreement on DEI, we’d be happy to move forward,” he said in a statement.
The Republican co-chairs of the Legislature’s budget committee, Rep. Mark Born and Sen. Howard Marklein, did not immediately respond to emails sent Monday seeking comment on the plan.
The Legislature is also weighing Republican-backed bills that would outlaw race- and diversity-based financial aid at UW schools and tech colleges. Evers is almost certain to veto those proposals, which were scheduled for a vote in the Assembly on Tuesday.
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