UW-Madison DEI bureaucrats take to the bunkers.
Kids stir their mashed potatoes with the peas and carrots, believing they can fool mom that they’ve eaten their supper. UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin isn’t fooling anyone.
Speaker Robin Vos and his Republicans were all over the Woke scam that is the UW Division of Diversity, Equity, and Educational Achievement. In response, the University of Wisconsin-Madison is abolishing the DEI Division. Hold the applause. The university is mixing its $21.8 million worth of peas and carrots into the maw of its impenetrable bureaucratic welter.
“Diversity of all kinds, including diversity of viewpoint and diversity of identity and background, remains a core value of our university,” Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin vowed. Fewer than 10 of its 100 employees will be laid off. Even those 100 do not account for well paid DEI operatives embedded into every academic department. (Here’s just one: Medicine & Public Health)
With Speaker Vos’ auditors in hot pursuit, the university demoted the boss of Woke from his $364,207 job in January. La Var Charleston was handing out $200,000 worth of bonuses to his staff — a helluva bunch of over-achievers they must have been, because 85% got them. W.O.K.E. spent more “on travel, training, and events” than any other entity on the Madison campus,” including $18,000 for student massage therapy services and $14,000 for a trip to Maui. (WOWIE!)
→ In related news, police arrest Brandi Grayson of Urban Triage!
What did all this DEI buy?
Forgive your own debt, Joe Biden! Even with one administrator for every four undergraduates, the university could spare no one to look over Prof. Charleston’s shoulder!
Who replaces the Woke prof? An associate dean (their numbers are legion) to advise the university. National Review reports that among Percival Matthews’ “scholarly publications” is “Fostering Diversity in Mathematics Cognition,” which alleges that the way America teaches mathematics is “inherently violent toward Black children.” Defended the BLM riots too. (“DEI isn’t dead yet at the University of Wisconsin”)
The WI legislature’s April audit looked for outcomes and found, “The plans do not consistently identify … specific actions UW institutions need to take in order to complete the activities and the dates for completing the activities.”
Eighteen activities had no anticipated outcomes, and 7 activities had anticipated outcomes that restate the activities.
‘Which is worse, Trump or Harvard?’
Wall Street Journal editor-at-large Gerard Baker asks. “I’ll go with Harvard, source of so much of the rot in universities and in culture generally,” Baker answered. (And he is one horny RINO!)
“The rot in many American universities is so deep and so extensive that a four-year presidency will be nowhere near enough to begin to reverse it through suasion, incentives and dialogue. … the British used to think it was useful to shoot an admiral from time to time, to encourage the others.” — Wall Street Journal
Blaska’s Bottom Line: We shall grade Chancellor Mnookin on a curve. Perhaps the lady divides to conquer. One day Colonel Mustard doesn’t report for duty in the Division for Teaching and Learning; the next day Miss Scarlett goes missing in the Office of Human Resources; then Professor Plum leaves Data, Academic Planning & Institutional Research to flack for Zohran Mamdani. No need to shoot the admirals. Just attrition them.
10 responses to “Let’s stop short of shooting the admirals!”
Yeah, I read this article this morning noticing the scattering of the DRI minions–I like Blaska’s peas/potatoes analogy better. When I read it, I wondered if Mnookin took one of the peas aside and whispered in its ear (do peas have ears?) “You are head pea, keep it all rolling. Don’t tell anyone, especially the press.” And the show goes on. I was a prof at said Univ, a lofty thinker at the Med school to be precise ’till 2006 and left for other adventures. I saw the cold vice grip of political correctness take over the Humanities while I was there. And it was gradually infiltrating the sciences when I exited. I chaired the biosciences curriculum committee that had final say on all course curricula changes in life sciences across the whole Universe of Wisconsin and we once had a proposal from the med school–they wanted a “stress reduction course” for med students. The poor future surgeons, ER docs, etc, would gather and sing Kumbaya, learn how to journal, write poetry, do breathing exercises , stretch, AND get MEDICAL SCHOOL credit for it. The big rational for this was that Stanford School of Med was already doing it! We should also aspire to such greatness. There was ZERO medical science content to this silly thing. I asked if we should also offer the medical school soft ball team credit since that could also be considered stress reducing. When it came to a vote I was the ONLY dissenting vote. Such is the ,even the sciences, were higher education was going. Now at faculty meetings, even the science faculty are introducing themselves with their “preferred pronouns. They would not want me there now. “Hi, I am Steve, Professor of Important Stuff, Pronouns: Professor, Doctor, Your Highness, Supreme Leader…
I was fortunate enough to retire from the UW system before DEI spread its noxious tentacles into every crevice of the University, though it had certainly begun its evil task, starting with the easy target of the Humanities. I remember one meeting of the English Department’s committee charged with articulating the goals of the Freshman Composition Program. My specific task was to define, in broad terms, the sort of writing students should be taught to produce. Sounds relatively simple, right? It turns out that I, benighted white male that I am, made the mistake of suggesting the phrase “clear, concise, and vigorous prose.” One member of the committee, whose appointment was half in the English Department and half in Women’s Studies, objected vigorously to the term “vigorous,” which to her (ultra-woke) ears conjured up images of toxic masculinity. If I’d thought of it at the time, I would have suggested we substitute “flaccid,” which I’m sure would have won her unqualified approval. As it turned out, a majority of the committee supported the term “vigorous,” though if the vote were taken today, I’m sure it would be axed (assuming anyone would have the temerity to suggest it in the first place).
Unfortunately, the intellectual/moral rot that permeates higher education will only spread until the root cause is addressed: namely, the proliferation of grievance studies programs. These were instituted in the late 60s by campus radicals who knew their demands would be met by spineless administrators. These bogus departments are intellectually bankrupt and immune from most of the standards that apply to legitimate departments. The “scholarship” they produce is laughable, the degrees they offer are worthless, and the students who “earn” them are ill-prepared to enter the workforce. Dismantling them ought to be the top priority of Trump’s higher education reform initiatives.
Awesome comments by Steve and Gary who had firsthand knowledge of the DEI grift when they were employed by UW Madison and thus were in the belly of the beast!
How spineless is the Wisconsin legislature that they didn’t/couldn’t engineer a total elimination of DEI at UW? I guess the opportunity to strike a deal with our pathetically weak Governor was too strong, I.e. the resulting acceptance of $1B in federal Medicaid dollars. Does this mean Wisconsin’s status as one of the 10 states remaining that were holding out on accepting a position at the federal trough is now kaput?
That 1b is how Vos and company can brag about a budget surplus while doing nothing. All the states who have the worst healthcare in the country are red. If that bothers, you then tell robin to send it back. Dementia Don can use it to arm more of his jackboots and pay for Noem’s riding lessons.
Spoken like a true fan of the Spanish dictator and murderer Generalissimo Francisco Franco.
Who is still dead! IYKYK
Target Rich environment here for skewering but probably the most delicious is Brandi Grayson’s a criminal. Who would have thunk?
Let’s hope our gracious host shares his thoughts on Brandi’s little scape with the law. Just seeing her mugshot made my day.
There are no pronoun spewing, make work jobbing, unethical grifters making bank while the UW raises tuition and creates another generation of hopelessly in debt graduates on stolen land.
Imagine any Marxist organization with a massive budget, next to zero oversight (we don’t need no stinkin’ audit) and voila! the UW.
The faculty, trustees and the Guv have sifted and winnowed out common sense, accountability and functionality.
Eliminate tenure, unbloat the bureaucracy, rationalize the curriculum (I’ll help!) and fire Mnookin.
Any organization that can find that a rock is racist can never be listened to again.