UW System Failed to Adequately Track Spending on DEI: Audit
UW-Madison DEI programs included an effort to "decolonize" the dance department
The Universities of Wisconsin failed to track millions in spending on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, according to a recently-released audit completed by the state legislature.
This comes as UW-Madison’s Division of Diversity, Equity and Educational Achievement is still recovering from a financial scandal that led to the demotion of former chief diversity officer LaVar Charleston. Other DEI offices across the country have faced scrutiny by the Trump Administration, which is investigating UW-Madison for both racial discrimination and antisemitism.
The audit found that Universities of Wisconsin were not required to define DEI by either the Board of Regents or UW administration. This meant “each UW institution decided how to implement diversity, equity, and inclusion, which resulted in differences across UW institutions.”
It also discovered that the UW system spent more than $40 million “on offices with job duties pertaining to DEI,” including $12.5 million on DEI job salaries and $8 million on DEI activities.
“While the Universities of Wisconsin claim that these programs support the success of all students, only 403 – roughly 32% – of their 1,263 planned DEI activities focused on students.”
In fiscal year 2023-2024, University of Wisconsin institutions had 170 DEI positions. At UW-Madison alone, twelve schools and colleges employed administrators dedicated to DEI.
Notably, “no UW institution tracked how much it spent on DEI, including UW-Madison, who had to reassign their DEI Chancellor for misuse of funds.”
DEI-related activities at UW-Madison included an effort to “decolonize the Dance Department curriculum and create equity among cultural dance forms.”
The School of Social Work “held an event to simulate the social and economic challenges facing people who leave prison,” while the School of Education “held a virtual event to enable a genuine connection among faculty and staff of the same race and improve individuals’ capacity to engage in sensitive topics.”
Other listed initiatives include “A library school student helped librarians improve the representation of Black, Indigenous, and people of color authors in collections” and “The Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences’ Equity Alliance meets bi-weekly to discuss decolonization and anti-racist actions.”
“The Trans Counseling Advocacy Research and Education Collaborative aims to transform and advance the position of two-spirit, trans, nonbinary, and gender diverse issues in the psychology field,” according to the audit.
One research project even “examined whether and why states with female governors had fewer COVID-19 deaths than states with male governors.” Moreover, single-use bathrooms were labelled “for equity.”
Additionally, “The Dean’s office funded research assistants for up to 40 hours for professors who want to include issues of race and diversity in their courses” and “The Graduate School held the ‘Niceness is Not Anti-Racism: How White Aspiring Allies Can (and Must) Step Up Their Game’ workshop to encourage white allies to think more deeply about their allyship.”
In total, almost 400 unique DEI activities were listed from UW-Madison in the audit. The university also designated diversity and inclusion as “strategic priorities” for fundraising.
Senator Eric Wimberger, co-chair of the Legislative Audit Committee, said, “Wisconsin should not tolerate, much less propagate, race-based discrimination masquerading as equality in its halls of government. This report shows that taxpayers spent millions of dollars on DEI with very little to show for it.”
A simultaneous audit also reviewed multiple state agencies, finding that more than $2 million was spent on salary costs. Additionally, “despite not completing any actions, the Department of Public Instruction spent more than $59,000 in salary costs for staff to attend committee meetings for the purpose of implementing equity and inclusion action plans.”
The Joint Legislative Audit Committee will hold a public hearing to discuss the contents of the audits next week.
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