Organizers of the first Conversation on Diversity and Inclusion hoped that around 200 people might show up to the discussion, held Tuesday afternoon in Union South’s Varsity Hall.
Nearly twice that number attended.
Wisconsin Union employees worked to open all sections of Varsity Hall in order to accommodate the standing-room-only event, the first in a semester-long set of dialogues and discussions.
“We had high hopes for this event,” said Lori Berquam, vice provost for student life and dean of students, in her opening remarks. “Let me just say that they were exceeded.”
The discussions are intended to demonstrate a renewed commitment to addressing issues of racial disparity and tension and the marginalization of groups in the UW-Madison community.
Organizers hope to explore how the university’s evolving Diversity Framework fits together with local and national responses to the deaths of black men in confrontations with police in Ferguson, Staten Island and elsewhere.. In December, about 1,000 students staged a “die-in” at College Library, the largest campus protest of its kind since the civil rights movement.
Berquam joined Chancellor Rebecca Blank and Vice Provost and Chief Diversity Officer Patrick Sims in facilitating the conversation.
“This is the key question for us here at UW: how do we create a community in which everyone feels welcome, valued and included?” asked Chancellor Blank. “We recognize that racial prejudice and inequity in our community and our nation continues to create deep scars.”
Blank joined Provost Sarah Mangelsdorf and several other school and college deans at tables filled with a wide sampling of campus personnel: first-year students and emeritus professors, classified and unclassified staff.
“It’s horrible that it took events in Ferguson and Staten Island and Milwaukee for us to get a bigger crowd,” said attendee Hank Walter, associate director of the Wisconsin Union. “But there is a bigger crowd.”
Discussion topics included student life, campus climate, campus interaction with the community, classroom climate and inclusion. At each table, facilitators introduced questions at an individual level and encouraged a takeaway: What can participants do today to improve the campus climate?
Junior Fathiya Issa cited “a lot of talk, but not action” in relation to issues of inclusion. She, and some others, felt that by scheduling the event at a time when many students were attending their first classes, the organizers showed disrespect for students.
“[Administrators and staff] go back to your offices and do what you do, but we’re the ones who have to be involved,” she said. “We have to figure out the system.”
Though many students took part, a group of students uniting under the name About Race UW had encouraged minimal student attendance to show solidarity and take ownership of the conversation. Some chose to attend a separate student-only event later in the evening at Ogg Hall.
Far from being discouraged, Sims was energized by these responses.
“What they’re doing is actually what we want to have happen,” he said. “They’re mobilizing in a way that makes sense for them.”
Organizers plan to identify themes that emerged from the discussion and move as many ideas as possible forward. Additional opportunities to engage in these discussions will be added to the calendar at voices.wisc.edu as the semester continues.
“I’ve described these as incubation conversations: percolations, ideas of the next steps we can take,” Sims said in his closing remarks. “We look to have more people involved in ongoing discussions. This is only the beginning.”
– Susannah Brooks