Gov. Evers condemns University of Wisconsin Board of regents decision to slash Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Listen to this article

On Wednesday night, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers issued a statement condemning the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents decision to cut funds for diversity, equity, and inclusion.

“This vote today represents a vast overreach by a group of Republicans who’ve grown exceedingly comfortable overextending, manipulating, and abusing their power to control, subvert, and obstruct basic functions of government,” Evers said.

“This exercise has been about one thing—the relentless political tantrums, ultimatums, and threats of retribution by legislative Republicans, most especially Speaker Robin Vos, his negotiation-by-bullying tactics, and general disdain for public education at every level,” Evers added.

As previously reported by the Wisconsin Law Journal, in a surprising about-face, the Universities of Wisconsin regents approved a deal Wednesday evening with Republican legislators to limit diversity positions at the system’s two dozen campuses in exchange for money to cover staff raises and construction projects.

In response, Ever said,”I disagree with the regents’ decision today. I am disappointed and frustrated with this result, this proposal, and the process that led up to this point. It is also my expectation that every individual who promised in this process that the important work of building diversity, equity, and inclusion and making sure our campuses are welcoming and work for everyone would not be diminished by this action will be working in earnest to make good on that commitment. And I’m going to make damn sure that they do.”

As previously reported by the Wisconsin Law Journal, lawmakers in Madison and across the nation have been defunding diversity, equity, inclusion initiatives, which a holocaust survivor said is reminiscent of 1930’s Nazi Germany.

Evers also condemned Nazis gathering in Madison last month, and in Watertown, Wis. over the Summer.

In response to the regent’s decision, Senator Chris Larson tweeted, “Wisconsin deserves better. We deserve representatives responsive to the public, not this partisan petulance by fringe politicians willing to deliver lasting harm just to score a few political points with the racist faction of their voting base.”

“The Board of Regents should not give in to the ransom demands of Robin Vos today. Republicans have already abused their ill-gotten power to defund and attack our public universities for over a decade,” Larson added.

On Wednesday, Vos retweeted a post calling for the “shaming of companies” that have DEI initiates and then went on further. (Image of Tweet below)

The recent Board of Regents vote comes as hate crimes are exponentially increasing according to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Anti-Defamation League (ADL) data.

Hate crimes data released in October by the FBI shows that reported hate crime incidents in 2022 rose to 11,634 incidents, the highest number ever recorded since the FBI started tracking such data in 1991.

According to Southern Poverty Law Center, Wisconsin alone has 21 “hate groups.”