Dear Faculty, Staff and Students,
We couldn’t agree more with what Chancellor Rebecca Blank said in her March 15 letter: it is clear that we have not made “as much progress as needed on building an inclusive and welcoming community.”
We’ve consistently been asked what happens to those who perpetrate acts of hate and bias. We can tell you that as a university we are committed to sanctions, accountability and education where appropriate. While we cannot share the specific outcomes because it would violate the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of students, in each case individuals took responsibility and were held accountable.
We believe our students, faculty and staff recognize the work that needs to be done and we are grateful that more and more members of our community have come together to promote a culture of civility and respect for others.
We are excited to update you on where things stand with the new initiatives that the chancellor laid out and share some other information as well. We’ve created this website, so you’ll be able to check back here on our efforts and what is happening on campus.
Proposals To Improve Campus Climate: Proposals for ideas to improve campus climate continue to come in. We hope to be able to share the ideas in the coming weeks. The chancellor is seeking a partnership with students, faculty and staff who have ideas and initiatives that address campus climate. She is specifically interested in proposals that are co-generated between multiple groups. If you have an idea or want to receive more information about crafting a proposal please contact chancellor@wisc.edu or submit it on this site.
Pilot on cultural competency and community building activities for our students: A cultural competency experience for incoming students is being developed and will debut in Fall 2016. Staff, students and faculty are involved in creating a focused effort to educate new Badgers on what it means to join a new community that has representation from around the world.
Add positions to serve students who experience mental health issues related to hate and bias incidents: Recruitment will begin in April for two additional counseling positions in University Health Services which will focus on serving the needs of our students. Also, additional counseling drop-in hours have been added at the Multicultural Student Center (Tuesdays, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and Wednesday, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.) No appointments are needed.
Review of cultural center models at peer institutions: A group of students and staff will tour five or six other cultural centers around the Big Ten April 14-15. Participants will share insights and provide recommendations on how we might improve and further the capacity of our own centers.
Hold a university-wide session to share information on our processes for reporting incidents along with the student conduct process. For those who want a better understanding of the hate and bias incident reporting process and what happens after a report is filed, an informational session will be held April 7 from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the Concerto Room at Gordon Commons. All are welcome. We also urge you to continue to report these incidents at go.wisc.edu/reporthateandbias.
Community expectations: Campus conversations and direct communications continue. We’re working with Admissions, our Dean’s Council, our student organizations, House Fellows and other student employees and others with the goal to share information on how recent incidents have affected campus climate at UW-Madison and what can be done to acknowledge, heal, educate and move forward together.
We want a campus where everyone feels welcome and can have the same opportunity to be successful.
Lori Berquam
Vice Provost for Student Life and Dean of Students
Patrick Sims
Vice Provost and Chief Diversity Officer