Madison, WI– This past Saturday, the UW Board of Regents rejected the GOP deal that would freeze DEI positions and remove programming focused on supporting students and faculty of color, and underrepresented groups. Over 1,100 people signed the petition urging the UW Board of Regents to vote no on this deal this past Saturday within 24 hours. However, there is a closed special meeting scheduled today at 11am to reconsider the deal and further negotiations.

This is alarming and this meeting should be open for all to attend.

We are witnessing a larger movement taking place where Republicans are using political pressure to dictate how our educational institutions operate nationwide. One example is the Congress currently trying to pressure Harvard administrators to remove Harvard University’s President, Claudine Gay, for her comments during a Congressional hearing. However, over 700 members of Harvard’s faculty are urging administrators to resist calls in removing Harvard’s president. Professor Laurence Tribe signed the letter not due to sharing the same sentiments President Gay has, but because he believes our educational systems should be free of political pressures and promote academic freedoms.

In the spirit of Professor Tribe, make the UW Board of Regents meeting open to the public. We should all know if our UW system will succumb to Republican political pressures or committed to their values of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and promote academic freedoms.

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