UW System President Ray Cross Promises to Resign if Protections are Lost

On the morning of March 25, the Student Union’s Wisconsin Room was nearly filled to capacity with people ranging in age and professions who had one objective in common: Finding out what’s going to be done about the proposed $300 million budget cut in the UW System. They ended up getting something surprising: A promise by UW System President Ray Cross to resign if protections like tenure and shared governance vanish.

During this meeting, UW System President Ray Cross faced questions from audience members who stood up to make sure their voices were heard.

English Professor/Director of 21st Century Studies Richard Grusin presented a pledge for Cross.

“If you fail to secure a substantial reduction in the proposed budget cuts and if you prove unable to protect tenure, shared governance, and academic freedom for all University of Wisconsin’s universities,” Grusin asked, “Will you pledge here today to resign your position as president of the University of Wisconsin System?”

After the room immediately filled with applause, Cross responded with a simple yes. A brief silence seized the room, then there was another round of applause.

Throughout the budget meeting, Cross emphasized his beliefs in Chapter 36 of Wisconsin’s State Legislature Statutes, a chapter that supports shared governance and tenure rights as law.

Audience members raised questions about Cross and the State Legislature’s lack of publicly commenting on the depths of the proposed budget cuts and not clearly stating what will be cut as a result.

“Because you don’t see the fight, or the advocacy going on, or the arguments, don’t assume that it isn’t,” Cross said. “Part of what you don’t see is what’s going on behind closed doors. We have, for too often, fought our battles on the front pages of the newspaper and that hasn’t been very successful.”

Another one of the few who stood before the microphone and voiced their concerns was Rachel Ida Buff, an associate professor in the history department, director of the Comparative Ethnic Studies Program and a UWM faculty senator. Raising her suspicions about Cross’s advocacy of Chapter 36, Buff asked what flexibilities are being considered to recover from the proposed budget cuts and worries that faculty and staff are going to lose employment or labor rights. She expressed how strongly she believes in tuition equity and giving all students access to public education.

Buff requested data that will explain what the flexibilities mean and said she also wants to see the details of what is being done about this $300 million budget cut proposal.

“You talked a lot about things that happen behind closed doors, but I would like some leadership here,” Buff said. “I would like a statement, a public statement, not behind closed doors because I don’t get to go behind those closed doors, to that effect.”

When Cross attempted to respond Buff’s requests, he talked about her wanting him to take sides and that he’s clearly on the side of shared governance and tenure.

“This isn’t ideological. This is the university. It’s not a side. I mean there are Republicans in this room, there are Democrats in this room. Represent your people,” Buff said. “I think we need affirmation that you are, in fact, working to support what we do here.”

Sending the audience into another round of applause, Buff continued to stand on her beliefs and seek clarity on the back-door conversations Cross participates in to represent the UW System.

Student Association Vice President Evan Braun, one of the few current students of UW-Milwaukee in attendance of the meeting, also asked what is being done to ensure that campuses are not taking the full front of the damage from the proposed budget cut. Cross responded with the idea that we need to concentrate on our administrative savings before doing anything else. Not completely satisfied with Cross’s answers, Braun returned to his seat to allow more people to approach the microphone with their questions.

Discussing mechanisms possible to alleviate the damage from the budget cut proposal, like the dedicated funding stream predicted to raise the CPI (consumer price index) and increase funding over future years, Cross voiced his anticipation that revenue will look better throughout the month of April. He assured that the proposal is no longer in the hands of Gov. Scott Walker, but is in the hands of the State Legislature who, he also says, is sympathetic to requests to reduce the budget cut.

According to Cross, revenues should look better in April and will be announced in early May. The budget bill is proposed to be signed by mid-May. The next campus budget meeting will be held on May 8 from 9 a.m. – 11 a.m. in Bolton 150 and will also include a Q&A format.