Madison Reporter

Last year, after a video of a student making racist comments surfaced online, Chancellor Jennifer L. Mnookin tasked a campus ad hoc group with studying the Black experience at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and recommending steps the campus community could take to positively influence that experience. The Ad Hoc Study Group on the Black Community Experience on the UW–Madison Campus has now completed its work.

The group’s wide-ranging recommendations, contained in its final report, include enhanced recruiting and retention strategies, the formation of advisory councils, more outreach to Black alumni, and increased support for the Rebecca M. Blank Center for Campus History.

Mnookin has tasked Vice Chancellor for Inclusive Excellence LaVar Charleston with taking the lead in reviewing the study group’s recommendations and determining next steps for acting on them. Many of the recommendations cut across campus units and university leaders anticipate that engagement from multiple partners will be critical in determining how to achieve the goal of a stronger climate for members of the Black community. While Mnookin and Charleston believe that some of the specific recommendations will be actionable, some may also need additional review for legal considerations in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last summer on the use of race and ethnicity in admissions.

“I want to thank the members of the study group for their thoughtful work on this crucial issue,” Mnookin says. “I also want to express my deep gratitude to the members of the Blk Pwr Coalition and other student leaders, whose advocacy on this issue played a significant role in prompting us to take on this important effort. Over the years, the university has undertaken a variety of efforts to support underrepresented minority members of our campus community — a number of which are described in thoughtful detail in the study group’s report — but we recognize, and the ad hoc report confirms, that we still have much work to do.”

Mnookin formed the ad hoc study group in summer 2023 as a response to longstanding issues and following protests sparked by a video showing racist comments by a student.

The study group’s conclusions and strategic recommendations will inform future efforts to meaningfully address concerns identified in their report, Mnookin says. Charleston will convene a working group to develop actionable responses that can be implemented in both near-term initiatives and longer-term plans.

The 15-member ad hoc study group included students, faculty, staff, community members, and several UW–Madison alumni. The group was co-chaired by Professor Angela Byars-Winston and Rev. Dr. Alex Gee.

Byars-Winston is a professor within UW's Department of Medicine and inaugural chair at UW's Institute for Diversity Science. Gee is an alumnus who founded both The Center for Black Excellence & Culture and Nehemiah Center for Urban Leadership Development; he also serves as lead pastor at Fountain of Life Church.

In a joint statement, Byars-Winston and Gee thanked their fellow study group members "for bringing wisdom, energy and hopefulness to a difficult subject."

“We believe UW–Madison can become an institution that uplifts its Black community,” they said. “The recommended strategies aim at fostering university culture where Black individuals do not just survive but thrive.”

The report’s executive summary states Mnookin encouraged prioritizing actionable items ranging from readily achievable goals to complex initiatives addressing root causes for substantive change.

“Chancellor Mnookin tasked us with developing tiered recommendations: immediate actions she could implement unilaterally; collaborative efforts requiring more time; ambitious systemic changes needing extensive resources,” it says. “This charge underscores commitment towards pragmatic solutions recognizing different scopes necessary for genuine transformation.”