MILWAUKEE- Today the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled unanimously declared undergraduate retention grants for certain minority students are unconstitutional.
The ruling is based on precedent set by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2023 that significantly curtailed race-based college admissions. Senator Dora Drake, the Chair for the Wisconsin Legislative Black Caucus strongly questioned the US Supreme Court decision being applied to this program. “That federal case was based on admissions while this program is about a student retention enacted by the state legislature and funded since 1985. They are setting a dangerous precedent by applying this federal ruling to distinctly different programs.”
The program established by the state legislature in the 1985-87 biennial budget. Awards were based on financial need, with a minimum grant of $250 and a maximum grant of $2,500 per year. Senator Drake a first-generation college graduate from Marquette University and a recipient of this grant went on to say that “Disadvantaged communities need more resources, not fewer, and next session I’ll reintroduce this program to support students based on income and zip code.”
This decision emboldens an extreme conservative agenda to remove all protections and programs that work to remove all disparities in America and secure a fair democracy for all. This includes a misleading constitutional amendment on the fall general election ballot, labeling any programs meant to eliminate gender, racial, or ethnic disparities as “preferential treatment”.
“We can’t continue to make the same mistakes like our nation did post reconstruction and Jim Crow if we do we will never achieve true equity in our democracy.” Senator Dora Drake concluded.
