Running head: BADGERING DIVERISTY AT UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON 1

University Wisconsin Madison

Joshua Hutchinson, Sean Chase, Michelle Batty, Karina Castillo, Samantha Rengstorf

Northern Illinois University

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Introduction

The University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW) acts as the largest public institution in the

state of Wisconsin with an enrollment number of 43,338 students for the fall 2016 semester(n.d.).

With a student population of tens of thousands of individuals, UW would ideally have a diverse

student population where many racial/ethnic identities are represented. As stated within their

mission, the university “seeks to attract and serve students from diverse social, economic and

ethnic backgrounds” (n.d.). The purpose of this paper is to conduct an audit of the UW’s efforts

to promote diversity within their institution. In this paper, we will introduce a case study for UW,

and discuss concerns raised from the investigation of UW’s online publications.

Case Study

The UW suffered a diversity setback when a Black student was photoshopped onto the

front cover of the admissions booklet in efforts to promote diversity on campus in 2000. The

photoshopped image went viral and became an instant example of how colleges miss the mark

on diversity. The student was approached by an admissions counselor about the new admissions

booklet cover; showing photographed students in the stands at a home football game. The

particular student was featured on the cover, but was surrounded by white students with only his

head showing. However, the Black student never attended a football game and he expressed the

incident was a part of a bigger issue, while the university stressed it was simply a human error.

Additionally, the admissions office at UW that produced the admissions booklet is on the fourth

floor of the same building where the multicultural student center is located on the second floor

(Prichep, 2013). Therefore, it seems this whole incident regarding falsifying campus diversity

could have been easily prevented.

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Colleges continue to center their mission statements on diverstiyu, using the word as a

marketing strategy to recruit prospective students. The word “diversity” is being used to catch

prospective student’s attention regarding inclusion on their college campus. For example,

Pippert and fellow researchers viewed more than 10,000 images from college brochures. They

examined the racial breakdown of students featured in the college brochures compared to the

actual demographics of students on those college campuses were the whiter the school, the more

diversity was featured in the college brochures. The overall findings were colleges which were

predominantly White, having only five percent of the student body identifying as African-

Americans, did not portray what population in brochures and booklets showed at a percentage of

14.5 (Prichep, 2013).

Jim Rawlins, University of Oregon admissions director, believed the inflation of diversity

shown on college campuses will help promote a more diverse campus, as students want to

witness the diversity on campus that is be advertised. Lastly, Rawlins recommended asking

students for feedback rather than counting diverse individuals in all publications published by the

university in order to easily measure the diverse culture on campus (Prichep, 2013).

Non-Performatives

Ahmed’s (2012) concept of non-performatives can be seen throughout the University of

Wisconsin-Madison’s web page. Specifically, non-performatives are present throughout the

2015 implementation of the R.E.E.L. plan to increase efforts of diversity and inclusion on

campus. This plan is described as a 10-year process that has been separated into three phases,

with high-priority missions located in the first phase and plans that will take a longer time to

accomplish in the final phase. The foundation of the plan revolves around completing each

phase in order of priority, but this is not reflected on the website. Each phase is currently labeled
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as “In Progress” regardless of which phase it is. As it is described, there should be a larger

emphasis on completing the first phase before moving on to the next. Instead it is shown that

multiple phases are in progress, which will delay the process of improving diversity and

inclusion on campus.

According to the report Affecting R.E.E.L. Change for Diversity and Inclusion prepared

by the Office of the Vice Provost for Diversity and Climate (n.d.), a pivotal goal is to “Increase

campus awareness of the institutional vision and commitment to diversity” (p. 5). A major key

in increasing this awareness is making information available to the students of the university and

the community as a whole. Ahmed (2012) would describe this goal as a non-performative

statement due to the out- of-date information provided by the university in regards to diversity

enrollment. The webpage for the Office of the Registrar allows visitors to search through each

semester from the Fall of 2014 to 1984. Spring 2014 is also an option, but there is no

information available after clicking the link. To make this goal a more performative statement,

more attention needs to be given to the resources that are made available to the public.

Corporate Managerialism

When looking at how the University of Wisconsin-Madison addresses issues of diversity

and inclusion and works to serve diverse populations of students, it becomes blatantly clear that

Magolda’s (2016) notion of corporate managerialism plays a large role. The most blatant

example of UW’s implementation of corporate managerialism, and perhaps the most scathing

critique, is the institutional website. The University of Wisconsin-Madison (n.d.) website has

undergone updates and changes over the past year in order to be more user friendly, appealing,

and to better market the institution. These updates and improvements are found throughout most

of the various departmental and institutional pages, especially all of the pages that can be
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navigated to immediately from the home page (University of Wisconsin-Madison, n.d.).

However, pages for resources such as the Division of Diversity, Equity and Educational

Achievement (n.d.) have not been updated or changed to reflect this institutional shift. This

disparity reflects the institutional view of the university’s diversity initiatives. Priority for

website upgrades is reserved for pages and departments that are viewed as valuable, or

marketable assets for the institution. This prioritization perfectly reflects the mentality used

when creating the custodian inspection rubrics highlighted by Magolda (2016).

Corporate managerialism can also be found in the materials published on these websites.

Within the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Creating Community (n.d.) page are posted many

“Diversity Reports”. One report, Affecting R.E.E.L. Change for Diversity & Inclusion prepared

by the Office of the Vice Provost for Diversity & Climate (n.d.), utilizes professionally designed

graphics and formatting in an attempt to create a marketable image of the diversity initiatives

employed by the university. One such attempt at creating marketability is the creation of

acronyms to make concepts sound more appealing. Affecting R.E.E.L. Change for Diversity

and Inclusion prepared by the Office of the Vice Provost for Diversity & Climate (n.d.)

incorporates the words “Retain. Equip. Engage. Lead” into the acronym R.E.E.L. in order to

create a play on words, and coin a catchy divisional slogan.

Unseen Populations

University of Wisconsin-Madison College Portrait (n.d.) stated that UW was home to

over 43,000 students in 2015. UW has an average women to men ratio averaging 51:49.

However, the demographics of race and ethnicity show a large gap between White students and

any other ethnicity on campus (University of Wisconsin-Madison College Portrait, n.d.). In

2015, undergraduate student demographics showed that seventy-five percent of the

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undergraduate student population were White, the second largest population was nine percent

international students, and the rest of the ethnicities were at or below five percent (University of

Wisconsin-Madison College Portrait, n.d.). As read in Magolda, (2015) having a representation

and a voice is important for these smaller populations on campus as well. Thus, creating a

campus climate that is open and safe is vital for students. What is the university currently doing

to help the students in these unseen populations?

Ahmed (2012) stated that racism and inequalities are overlooked when studying diversity.

For example, if a prospective student of color was deciding on attending UW, he/she would

notice there are several pictures online showing diversity on campus, but through further

research in demographics this is found to be false. Like the custodians that searched for jobs

which provided assistance to cost of health care and searched for a place that had emotional and

institutional support, students of color search for a similar environment, hoping to find assistance

financially, and searched for both the emotional and institutional support (Magolda, 2016).

Conclusion

Many collegiate institutions across the nation find themselves in a similar position that

UW finds itself in, trying to appeal to and attract the ever changing population of individuals

seeking higher education. The UW website attempts to promote a diverse institution where any

individual could see themselves. However, when looking deeper at the institution and the

numbers in relation to diverse populations present it can be argued that there is a

misrepresentation. Although UW may attempt to promote diversity through their website and

marketing materials it misleads potential students and the question remains as to how they are

accurately representing what is present on campus.

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The University of Wisconsin-Madison (n.d.) states within their mission statement that they ‘seek

to attract’ diverse populations of students, but the question remains as to whether they are

equipped to adequately serve these students, or if they are just putting on a show to attract more

diverse students and be seen as a diverse institution.

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References

Affecting R.E.E.L. Change for Diversity & Inclusion prepared by the Office of the Vice Provost

for Diversity & Climate. (n.d.). from Creating https://diversity.wisc.edu/wp-

content/uploads/2017/04/Patricks-preferred-04.08.15-DF-REEL-Report-

FINAL_Updated.pdf

Ahmed, S. (2012). On being included racism and diversity in institutional life. Durham,

England: Duke University Press

Community. (n.d.). Retrieved April 25, 2017, from https://diversity.wisc.edu/

Division of Diversity, Equity & Educational Achievement. (n.d.). Retrieved April 24, 2017, from

https://provost.wisc.edu/climate.htm

Magolda, P. (2016). The lives of campus custodians: Insights into corporatization and civic

disengagement in the academy. Sterling, VA: Stylus.

Prichep, D. (2013). A campus more colorful than reality: Beware that college brochure.

Northern Public Radio. Retrieved April 26. 2017. From

http://www.npr.org/2013/12/29/257765543/a-campus-more-colorful-than-reality-beware-

that-college-brochure

University of Wisconsin-Madison (n.d.). Retrieved April 24, 2017, from http://www.wisc.edu/

University of Wisconsin-Madison College Portrait (n.d.) Retrieved April 24,2017 from

http://www.collegeportraits.org/WI/UW-Madison/characteristics