The Universities of Wisconsin Board of Regents reversed itself Wednesday and voted to approve a Republican-brokered deal that would unlock pay raises for employees and fund UW-Madison’s new engineering building in exchange for slimming its diversity, equity and inclusion staffing.
The board had previously rejected the plan in a 9-8 vote Saturday, a move that received praise from Democratic lawmakers who saw the deal as selling out students of color.
Three regents who initially voted against it flipped their votes Dec. 13, resulting in a 11-6 vote to approve the deal. Those who changed their decision were Regents Jennifer Staton, a UW-Parkside student; Karen Walsh, the board’s president; and Amy Blumenfeld Bogost, the board’s vice president.
“After further discussions with stakeholders from every campus, I have decided to support this resolution,” Bogost said, adding that the board will continue to hold UW leaders accountable in their commitment to diversity. “It is clear that this compromise, which includes a much needed increase for our universities, employee compensation, among other things, will allow the Universities of Wisconsin to continue to pursue opportunities for all under-served students.”
UW system President Jay Rothman negotiated the deal with Republican lawmakers and announced it last week. In exchange for about $800 million toward staff pay raises and several building projects, UW campuses must reclassify at least 43 DEI positions as “student success” roles and freeze the hiring of new administrators and DEI employees for three years.
The agreement also calls for the universities to eliminate any required diversity statement in admissions and to end UW-Madison’s Target of Opportunity Program, which helps academic departments recruit diverse faculty. The campus must instead create a program recruiting faculty — regardless of identity — who have experience mentoring “at risk” or underrepresented students.
The deal has been part of a months-long conflict between UW leaders and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, who since June has been escalating threats toward the system over its spending on DEI positions and programs.
The regents and chancellors who supported the deal said it would bring an end to the Republicans' hold on 6% raises for 35,000 UW employees and $197 million in state funding for the system's No. 1 construction priority, a new UW-Madison engineering facility that would replace one of the oldest buildings on the College of Engineering campus.
Legislators on the Joint Committee on Employment Relations were scheduled to meet on Dec. 19 to approve the pay raises for UW workers.
“It was clear last Saturday (Dec. 9) that the board did not have sufficient time to discuss this document, and its potential benefits and pitfalls,” Walsh said during Wednesday’s meeting. “Since that vote, we have had the opportunity to discuss the proposal with each other and hear viewpoints from our chancellors, faculty, staff and students. That's just good governance, not a defense of a particular ideology.”
Speaking with reporters after the vote, Rothman said "on the balance" he felt the deal was good for the state and its universities but acknowledged the political dynamics.
If Republicans were to seek further DEI cuts next budget cycle, Rothman said, "we face that issue when we come to it."
Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman garnered enough support Wednesday to approve a deal he negotiated with Republican lawmakers that would give campuses around $800 million in exchange for slimming their diversity positions.
"We live in a political environment,” he said. “It is not shocking to say that we are a polarized state, we have divided government, between the Legislature and the executive branch. In that context, if you're going to move forward, if you're going to make progress, you have to find a way forward to find compromise.”
A chaotic week of negotiations
The re-vote came amid mounting political pressure. Vos told WISN-AM on Monday that there was “zero chance” he’d consider any further negotiations after the board rejected the agreement. He said he’d do “everything in my power to make sure we enforce this deal or wait until the next budget to talk about it again.”
The original vote also prompted threats from legislative Republicans to vote down a handful of the regents appointed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers who have yet to be confirmed by the state Senate.
The Senate voted to confirm seven regents last month, with many of those appointees waiting months or even years for the vote to occur. Senate President Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, indicated that if the regents failed to support the deal with Republicans — or continued to support DEI — it could jeopardize the remaining four regents’ candidacy, although one member yet to be confirmed, Regent Ashok Rai, has supported the proposal from the start.
Republicans, including Kapenga and Vos, have said DEI programming broadly contributes to division on campus, echoing similar objections that have been raised nationally.
Vos said Wednesday night that "we finally have turned the corner and gotten real reforms enacted."
"Republicans know this is just the first step in what will be our continuing efforts to eliminate these cancerous DEI practices on UW campuses," he said in a social media post Wednesday.
Evers said in a statement that the vote came about because of "the relentless political tantrums, ultimatums and threats of retribution by legislative Republicans," notably Vos.
"I disagree with the regents’ decision today," Evers said. "I am disappointed and frustrated with this result, this proposal, and the process that led up to this point."
Democratic legislators joined students and faculty members in pushing for the regents to vote down the deal on Wednesday.
Rep. Dora Drake, D-Milwaukee, called on Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne and Attorney General Josh Kaul to investigate possible violations of the open meetings act when the regents met behind closed doors Dec. 12 to discuss the deal.
She pointed to a memo from the Legislature’s nonpartisan staff indicating that “it seems likely that a court would find” that the public was not given proper notice of what went on in the meeting.
“What's very alarming is that people went to such great lengths to make sure that this deal could potentially happen today,” Drake, who is also chair of the Legislative Black Caucus, said at a press conference Wednesday afternoon.
Regents divided
The deal has revealed a rare divide among the regents, who typically vote overwhelmingly to pass resolutions recommended by the UW system president. Walsh pushed back against that characterization Wednesday, saying all of the regents have a “deeply felt purpose to do what's best for the Universities of Wisconsin.”
“Yes, we are appointees of two governors on opposite sides of the aisle. But this is a highly interactive board,” she said. “Not only do we work across the aisle with each other, I honestly think we don't see an aisle in the majority of our work together.”
One regent who has been unable to participate in deliberations called for the board to delay their vote ahead of the meeting Wednesday. Jill Underly, the state superintendent of public instruction, has been absent because she is out of the country “with very inconsistent internet access,” according to a statement from the DPI.
UW system Regent Jennifer Staton, shown by video during the board's first vote Saturday on a deal with Republican legislators, changed her vote Wednesday to support the agreement.
Yet the board pushed on, with chancellors also attending the meeting Wednesday to deliver speeches in support of the deal.
The regents who voted to approve it acknowledged the agreement was imperfect but argued compromises were necessary to help the universities move forward.
"(Vos) has lost touch of the reality of how people are actually living because, to be honest, we aren't walking around arguing about DEI," Staton said. "He has created and perpetuated this battle here in Wisconsin."
Still, she added she would reverse her vote because of the chancellors who have come out in support of the deal.
"Right now, I will place their needs above my own," Staton said. "I have full confidence in our president, the chancellors, faculty and support staff in continuing this fight."
