GOP legislators in The Badger State want to cut $32 million from the University of Wisconsin because of the school's "wasteful spending" on a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) program.
According to Campus Reform, $16 million goes for DEI personnel salaries annually. In fact, UW President Jay Rothman recently hired a chief diversity officer at $225,000 a year.
Julaine Appling of the Wisconsin Family Council says that is an example for why the cut has been proposed.
"They see that as an unnecessary staff position, in particular for a detrimental ideology, for this DEI idea, and they don't want to have public funding support that," Appling explains.
President Rothman has threatened to either raise tuition costs or close UW campuses if the budget is cut. And while she knows he means that as a threat, Appling does not think either of those options is a bad idea.
"I'm not sure that everyone in the state would be upset if we closed a couple of our campuses, to be honest," she submits.
Last week, without being able to undo the $32 million cut, Governor Tony Evers (D) signed the two-year budget.
