Speaker Vos, UW Clash Over Liberal Indoctrination Claims

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Chancellor Mark Mone expressed fear and anger and says he’s going on offense, after Speaker Robin Vos refuses to fund Wisconsin universities without accountability measures over concerns of liberal indoctrination and a lack of diversity of ideas.

In a meeting with the UW-Milwaukee University Committee, on March 14, regarding the budget for the UW System, Mone discussed a meeting that he had with Speaker Vos and legislative member David Murphy. In the meeting, Mone was accompanied by six UW chancellors and UW President Jay Rothman. According to both Vos and Mone, Vos brought up concerns of diversity of ideas on college campuses. Vos said, “The whole idea is that for increased funding at whatever level that is, it is only going to come with a full-throated embrace of diversity of thought, not a reluctant sentence statement on the university website.”

During the meeting on March 14, members of the UWM University Committee brought up their own concerns following Mone’s discussion of the negotiations with Speaker Vos. Many brought up that often you cannot avoid these conversations in classrooms, and sometimes students are asking for such conversations. They also brought up concerns over how Mone was handling the negotiations. Some said they don’t want to bend to something they don’t believe to be true.

According to Mone, regarding the meeting with Vos, “The ask that was in front of them was how do we get to an enthusiastically willing and strong partnership from a funding perspective. Citing four red states and five blue states, showing the legislature and employers coming together and really invest in higher education. Significant investments, how do we get there? One of the things to get there, is we are going to have to overcome the ideological argument. Which is kind of the national playbook.”

Mone specifically cited bills introduced to the legislatures in Texas and Florida against Diversity, Equity and Inclusion or DEI. Mone also referenced tenure and a number of things that are taken for granted around academic freedom, like what you can and can’t have in a curriculum.

Mone said, “You know if we had Gov. Michels, if that was the election outcome, we would probably be going down a path. If you look at some of the bills brought to the legislature that have been vetoed by Evers, you would have very similar measures.”

What is the conflict?

Speaker Vos gave his own comments on April 5, in an interview with Media Milwaukee, responding to Mone and the University Committee.

Vos said, “We had about an hour-long discussion. I think it was six chancellors along with the system President Jay Rothman, where they talked about some of the challenges each of the campuses are having. And I spent much of my time focusing on the need to have better respect for diversity of thought and opinion on campus. Many of the folks that I spoke with and the people I represent believe that there is such a deep ideological agenda on college campuses.”

According to Mone, when confronted with these sorts of arguments he says, “That campuses are more liberal than your average popcorn stand, than your average law firm, than your average manufacturing (company). Let’s not argue about that, but they’ve always been that way. Let’s go back to the 1960’s; let’s go back pretty much any time.”

Mone says that this is not the most important factor when it comes to higher education. Rather what the focus should be on, is the talent pipeline that universities provided communities, he said.

Where does Speaker Vos stand?

When asked to define what diversity of thought meant to Vos, he said, “Let’s take Madison as an example, each department is basically required to have DEI statements that they use in their hiring process and the promotion process. They frankly even ask applicants to write essays and to provide examples of the DEI work that they have done to be considered for a new position. But the diversity never includes anything related to freedom of expression or ideology.”

Vos went on to say, “It’s all based on gender and race, and I don’t necessarily have a problem with having gender and race be something that’s considered to make sure we have a diverse work force or a diverse set of plans. But I don’t think it should be mandated, and I don’t think it should be taken in the context that the only thing that matters is not diversity of opinion. Which is really what universities are supposed to challenge, but it’s only about race and gender.”

By the end of the meeting, according to Mone, where Vos, Murphy, Rothman and the seven chancellors landed, was a number around $50-60 million. This budget would come with accountability measures and thresholds proposed by Speaker Vos in response to his concerns. The measures and thresholds would be put in place to demonstrate balance and what they are trying to accomplish with the legislature.

However, Vos said, “Well I never said 50-60 million, that might have been what the universities’ request was, but again I don’t usually talk specific numbers like that I just know myself that’s not normal. But if that’s what their request was that might be true, I don’t want to say it wasn’t.”

Vos did not explain in great detail what he expects from the universities but did say, “It’s got to be deep and meaningful, it’s got to be taken seriously and that’s what I’m trying to figure out how we accomplish, with so many people on the campus who have a different belief that it’s not required much less a problem. Well, it is for a lot of people in Wisconsin. That if they want to have a partner with an investment, they can’t ignore those concerns.”

What Examples does Speaker Vos have?

When asked to provide some examples of the sorts of instances that Vos was concerned about, he said, “I just met with an individual who told me that when they recommended a person to apply to a department position at UW-Madison, when they [Madison] found out they were Asian, they said we already have enough Asians.”

If this is true it would be illegal and violate the Civil Rights Act.

Vos said, “In the name of inclusivity, they are excluding people which in my mind is just dead faced wrong. I would say if the very best people are all gay Asian women I’m okay with that. Right, if all the best people are white Catholic men, I’m okay with that too. I don’t think we should have some kind of litmus test that have a bunch of boxes that get filled by somebody based on where they were born what their skin color is. And that’s just a basic difference in the philosophy of what I would say is probably more of the majority of the public and probably the minority of the people that work at the university.”

This example provided by Speaker Vos had do with race. When asked why he provided this example, when his focus is primarily on ideas, he said, “I’m just saying that if it’s that way where I have examples with race. I know it’s that way also with diversity of opinion.”

Vos said, “In most colleges at UW-Madison, and I bet it’s this way at UWM, they have a requirement to list, for employment, your successes with DEI. It might be, write an essay, it might be show me in your experience where you have applied those principles. Well, that’s different than saying we respect diversity in the workplace. It’s an ideology that they are attempting to paint as something that is akin to diversity, but it’s really more ideological than it is based on that. Because again if diversity was the goal, it should mean everybody of any background has an equal chance to get a position. But if it’s more about indoctrinating the same ideology you would use the practices that they are, which is kind of group think.”

According to Mone, in the meeting prior to March 14, Vos provided a similar example. Where on another campus, to get into an MBA program, you have to write an essay on your views on diversity.

Mone said another chancellor challenged Vos on this, saying that if the person applying crafted their argument against diversity well, they would have been let in. According to Mone, Speaker Vos disputed that.

What happens next?

According to Mone on March 14, “We are going to have more meetings namely the next one coming up will be associated with the Regents’ meeting at Stout. At that, members of the legislature will come meet with all chancellors this time, and we will really get further into this. We are going to have a series of discussions to really work through this.”

It seems the negotiations have slowed as Vos said, “I had offered to meet with them as soon as they wanted to get back together. So, they have not set up a second meeting yet. So, usually people during budget time spend a lot of time trying to prioritize meeting with legislatures and finding answers to their questions and maybe they will. But usually it doesn’t go weeks and weeks, so we will see how serious they are.”

In August 2022, the UW Board of Regents presented a Biennial Operating Budget Request. According to the University of Wisconsin system the summary of the request is, “A Pay Plan with a 4% increase in January of 2024 and an additional 4% increase in January of 2025 for the UW System’s faculty, academic staff, university staff, and limited appointments.”

Mone discussed this in the meeting saying, “The base budget increase request of 4% and 4%, that would be this 50-60 million so it’s a little less than what that 4/4 would be but it’s permanent. In other words it would be 50–60-million-dollar base budget increase. That I don’t think that equates to the 4/4.”

What are the concerns from the University Committee?

Kathleen Dolan, member of the UWM University Committee, summed up the concerns by asking Mone to push back a little harder, “If they think they are going to buy our acquiescence on some set of issues, that’s a dangerous road to go down. And I understand it’s a less dangerous road to go down than they are in Florida, Texas, etc. But if we can’t make an intellectual argument that an MBA program wants to know how people who are going to be leaders are going to deal with a diverse work force, then we aren’t doing our job as a university, and I would like see us go down fighting those arguments than giving in for a little extra money.”

Members of the UWM Committee also brought up concerns of The Republican Legislature’s definition of liberal in which Vos responded with, “I don’t necessarily have a definition of liberal because again I do not fault anybody for being liberal. I do not want this to make it seem like it’s liberal versus conservative because it isn’t. I have no problem that a preponderance of people on campus are liberal, I accept that. But what I have a problem with is people who identify as liberal not wanting to have people who are conservative as their colleagues or their students. That’s what I believe, using the criteria that they are, it limits the pool of people who could be a faculty member or could be a student to only those who they believe agree with them and I think that’s bad for higher education.”

How is Mone taking it on?

According to Mone, he’s now going on offense against the number grievances provided by the legislature. He is also working with people preparing for debate.

Mone said, “We’re a punching bag. When I visit with a legislator they are generally talking off the national narrative of higher education. You can take it off of four or five points.”

According to Mone, the five main points from legislators boil down to these beliefs:

Universities are overpriced.
Brainwashing students/liberal indoctrination.
They are the pot smoking liberal left side.
Universities are putting student into majors for which there are no jobs.
Students are racking up debt.
Universities are out of touch with what employers need.

According to Mone, he has rebuttals for all.

Mone said, “I want us to be out there. Not just me making the case, but we’ve got to do it with our neighbors. We’ve got to do it with our friends and family. I’m not kidding you this has gone from a philosophical ideological discussion, to very pragmatic. To how it’s affecting policies regarding higher education. This is existential, that’s how serious this debate it today…this effects everybody because it’s the campus budget. It’s overall our existence in many ways, so it’s quite concerning.”