Copyright© 2007 by School Services of California, Inc.

                                      Volume 20                   For Publication Date: June 22, 2007             No. 14

Wisconsin Says No to Ban on Affirmative Action 

The Wisconsin Legislature formed a special committee to examine the state’s affirmative action policies. The committee convened in June to make recommendations on the need for a constitutional amendment to ban racial and ethnic preferences in college admissions. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, in a surprise move, the commission voted against drafting the amendment. 

It was expected that the panel would follow in the footsteps of states like California and Michigan in banning public universities and other state agencies from preferential treatment to any individual or group based upon race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin. However, after a long and, as some put it, emotional debate, the committee moved to strike the drafting of the amendment.  

According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, the committee also rejected a second item, which would have kept applications of underrepresented students to the University of Wisconsin system from receiving preferential treatment unless they could prove that at least 25% of their family heritage came from the minority group. 

The committee approved a requirement that “minority residents” must be American citizens in order to benefit from affirmative action policies in the state. The Wisconsin university system has come under fire since February of this year from conservative lawmakers over its decision to amend its affirmative action policy (see March 30, 2007 Update article, “University of Wisconsin Admission will Embrace Diversity”) allowing campuses to consider race and ethnicity of freshman applicants.

            —Jamillah Moore, Ed.D.