“UWM hasn’t improved when it comes to more opportunities and advancements for POC.”

Junior Alyssa English is vice president of the National Society of Black Engineers at UWM and involved with Leaders Igniting Transformation, which advocates for an equitable society. She spoke with Darius Hayes.

(Hayes) How do you feel the culture on campus is right now?

(English) I feel the culture at UWM is pretty much the same. In terms of diversity, UWM hasn’t improved when it comes to more opportunities and advancements for POC. In terms of campus culture, as in social life, UWM particularly doesn’t do anything as a whole on improving students’ experiences, and retention rate still falls below the state average. Many students such as myself especially after the chancellor’s forum [responding to a student’s online racial slur] considered transferring schools due to feeling unrepresented and heard. Because the chancellor and the dean of students’ decision on hate talk gave us the impression that he brushed off the issue. That’s a problem and the university needs to change. UWM’s multicultural centers have made it a priority to prioritize students, but the university doesn’t.

(Hayes) How did that incident make you feel?

(English)  In regards to the recent racial incident on campus, It was something I didn’t think would still be happening or at least if the incident happened there would have been justice served but there wasn’t. In which I’m not surprised, I thought maybe university laws were different but just like the world, privilege shapes our laws, regulations, the things we read, see or eat.  The woman on the video who dictated hate speech did not give remorse when she disrespected POC and the LGBTQ+ community. I dislike the fact that the woman on the video said the hateful things she said but what made it worse was that she was a student and wasn’t held accountable.

(Hayes) Where do you feel like the university can do better to improve the culture of campus life?

(English) I feel like the university could implement the diversity training that I and other UWM staff made with Dr. Chia Y Vang. As well as using it not only with staff but students as well a requirement. In addition to clarifying the student conduct so that incidents such as this would not go unresolved due to general questions with no clear intention. Furthermore, the chancellor and dean of students need to interact with the students more often. Be more involved in students’ lives at UWM. It can be an event or just casually talking on campus. Show students you care about them. But not just that, take action. Put more funding towards multicultural centers and student success centers. Bring more BIPOC staff and students into campus. Be the change, even if it starts small. Do something.

(Hayes) How has the university helped you through the pandemic?

(English) The university has offered a lot of financial assistance for the pandemic which I am very grateful for. Emergency grants and pandemic based grants were able to help me in dire times such as paying for rent or car bills.