UW-Madison expanding diversity training program

Nearly all new UW-Madison students will be encouraged to participate in a diversity training program next year after about 1,000 students participated in the program this past fall.

The program, known as Our Wisconsin, is one of several steps the university has taken to address a series of racially charged incidents on campus over the past year and what some minority groups have called a hostile environment. The program has been criticized both for not doing enough to address issues of systemic racism and also for potentially stifling unpopular free speech.

A participant survey found some evidence the program was fostering a greater awareness of race, though there was also “considerable drop-off in participation” between the two workshops, which took nearly five hours to complete.

Photo of Vice Provost and Dean of Student Life Lori Berquam
Vice Provost and Dean of Student Life at UW-Madison. Photo by Brice Richter.

UW-Madison Dean of Students Lori Berquam said the training will be limited to four hours as it expands to nearly all 7,000 new students next year. It will also be offered to various groups, such as athletes, the UW Marching Band, and fraternities and sororities.

Though it won’t be mandatory next fall, the first hour of the program will be incorporated into the summer student orientation process known as SOAR. Freshmen will be able to participate in a follow-up three-hour session as part of their residence hall activities in the first few weeks of school.

“Our hope is to be able to capture 90 percent of our incoming new students through these two mediums,” Berquam told reporters Monday.

UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank expressed support for the program’s expansion, Berquam said.

The university is adding a full-time position to oversee the program, which is costing $240,000 to implement.

Berquam said survey data so far doesn’t support making the program mandatory, but she added “we put this together in a very short amount of time.”

The survey found 52 percent of participants said learning about diversity was very or extremely important before participating, and 60 percent said the same after the first session. Also, 12 percent said before the program that they were very or extremely comfortable talking about race, and after both sessions that increased to 19 percent.

Student Orientation, Advising and Registration sessions meet all summer at UW-Madison.
UW-Madison students who participate in this summer’s Student Orientation, Advising and Registration (SOAR) will experience the first hour of a new diversity training program.

And 39 percent before the workshop said they would question a friend about a biased or stereotypical comment, with that number increasing to 50 percent after the first workshop.

Feedback on the sessions included that they should include snacks, be shorter, occur earlier in the year and include UW-Madison examples.

Race relations has been a hot topic on campus after incidents including racist graffiti, a football fan dressed up as President Barack Obama with a noose around his neck and an attempt to start a “pro-white student club” by a student who had been convicted of setting fires at predominantly black churches. Last week, the university’s student government passed a resolution saying black students should be offered free tuition and housing.

Tyriek Mack, a UW-Madison junior and Associated Students of Madison representative who authored the free tuition resolution, said he doesn’t oppose expanding the diversity training program because students asked for it. But he’s disappointed it doesn’t address more challenging issues such as white privilege and minority oppression.

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