| As the U.S. Supreme Court ponders its decision regarding the pivotal K-12 Affirmative Action cases on appeal from Louisville, Kentucky, and Seattle, Washington, Republicans in the State of Wisconsin continue to pursue their efforts to undermine and attack affirmative action laws and policies here at home. The latest manifestations of this have been focused on attacking the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents policy proposals on the use of affirmative action in the undergraduate admissions process at UW institutions and in their effort to provide a frontal attack on affirmative action when the Legislature recently appointed "The Special Committee on Affirmative Action." Af rican American Regent Danae Davis, Chair of the Education Committee, recently brought forth proposals from UW System Administration that call for broadening the criteria used for admission of new freshmen to include race among other more traditional criteria. While the policy was set for approval at the December 7th meeting of the full Board, it was derailed after Representative Steve Nass of Whitewater launched vocal opposition against it in a letter sent to System President Kevin Reilly the day before the Regents were to act on the proposed changes. Nass attacked the policy, claiming that it gave admissions officers a license to do "racial, ethnic and economic profiling." He further warned: "Do the people of Wisconsin need to be placed in the position of passing a similar constitutional amendment by overwhelming numbers simply because some officials in the UW System have an agenda that isn't representative of the middle class families financing public higher education in this state?" It is quite apparent that Mr. Nass is concerned solely about access for middle class Whites against the interests of the poor, first generation, and people of color who are in his district who might profit from some additional consideration in the admissions process. How elitist! As I recall in my work with Undergraduate Admissions at UW-Madison, for many, many years, the university would enroll an average of only 50 African American students out of a freshmen class of approximately 6,500 students. If 10 percent of those students profited from some "additional consideration" in the admissions process, then we are talking about a whopping total of five (5) students! Would this result in a huge displacement of qualified White middle class students from the Whitewater area? Absolutely not! In fact, additional consideration in the Admissions process has resulted in more access for poor White students, White students who are first generation in college, and White students who are legacies (children of alumni). Mr. Nass could not be further off the mark here. If the UW does not back down, Mr. Nass has threatened a ballot initiative that would go the way of California with Proposition 209, Washington State, and most recently Michigan, where conservative efforts were successful in outlawing affirmative action. Nass and his Republican colleagues in the State Legislature, on the eve of the recent mid-term election, used their dominance of the State Legislature to appoint "The Special Committee on Affirmative Action" which has a not-so-hidden agenda that has, as it's ultimate goal, the ending of affirmative action in Wisconsin. This Committee was created by the Legislature when the Republicans had a clear dominance in both chambers. The Republicans knew exactly what they were doing when they appointed as chair the arch conservative Senator Glenn Grothman, and stacking it with his conservative colleagues. One senior official from UW System Administration, who has a lot of knowledge and expertise on these issues, has also been appointed to the Committee to give some semblance of balance but this individual, will, at best, probably find it very hard to get through to these individuals. The Committee is scheduled to meet on Tuesday, December 19, 2006 at 6:30PM in 411 South, State Capitol. The sole agenda item for that meeting is "Discussion of Committee Assignment." The featured guest for that meeting is none other than Mr. Ward Connerly. Just look at this scenario : the Committee needs to "discuss its charge" so they are bringing in the highest profile anti-affirmative action icon to help them establish their purpose and direction. Mr. Connerly, head of his American Civil Rights Institute, comes in fresh on the heels of his victory with the Michigan ballot initiative outlawing affirmative action. Mr. Connerly, who undoubtedly identified himself as a "person of color" when his nascent company bided for and received set-aside minority contracts in California, more recently refers to himself as African American, Indian, and Irish. The bottom line with Mr. Connerly, and what is most detestable about him, is the fact that here you have a man who profited directly from affirmative action but who has now become it's more ardent critic. In fact, one could also argue that he has also profited monetarily by aligning himself with the financial interests that have helped to bankroll his Institute and sponsored initiatives. His "Civil Rights Institute" is obviously not interested in advancing and protecting the civil rights of the groups that the original laws and policies were passed to protect -- people of color. People who believe in fairness and justice should take notice; educate themselves and work to fight these efforts to undermine affirmative action in Wisconsin. The good citizens of Whitewater and neighboring communities should take action against Mr. Nass following the lead of the good citizens in Eau Claire who made Representative Robin Kreibich pay the ultimate political price for advancing similar policies. Efforts should also be undertaken to monitor the work of The Special Committee on Affirmative Action, attend the hearing, speak out and let Mr. Connerly know that his ideas are not welcome here. |
| The Literary Divide/ Dr. Paul Barrows Republicans continue strategy aimed at undermining Affirmative Action |
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