In a 9-8 vote, the University of Wisconsin (UW) System Board of Regents rejected an $800 million deal with the Wisconsin state legislature Saturday to, in part, continue expanding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs and continue hiring staff and admitting students based on DEI standards.
Indeed, the UW System board is adamant about continuing to make DEI hires, like Dr. Sami Schalk, a University of Wisconsin-Madison Gender and Women’s Studies associate professor, internet famous for twerking semi-nude while wearing an N-95 mask on stage at a rap concert.
“Today, the University of Wisconsin Regents rejected $800 million in new funding and raises for every one of their 39,000 employees because they just couldn’t bear to part with DEI hires like Professor Butt Cheeks here,” Milwaukee conservative radio host Dan O’Donnell wrote on X.
Incredibly, however, the now-rejected deal wouldn’t have jeopardized the jobs of professors like Schalk or DEI coordinators at the universities. For months, UW System President Jay Rothman and UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin have been brokering a deal with the Republican-run Wisconsin state legislature, which wanted to see only marginal limits on DEI initiatives within Wisconsin’s public universities. In exchange for $800 million for UW System pay raises and building projects, the UW System would have agreed to several reasonable and minimal changes.
First, the deal would have limited DEI expansion but would not have let go of any DEI staff or hires, including “Professor Lizzo.” All the legislature asked for was a freeze on hiring
