State lawmakers are taking a closer look at claims that University of Wisconsin-Madison admission policies are discriminatory. The Assembly Higher Education Committee held a hearing Monday to review a report from the Center for Equal Opportunity, a Virginia-based firm opposed to affirmative action.
In its report released last month, the Center claims the UW admitted black and Hispanic students with lower academic scores than white and Asian students who were passed over. Center president Roger Clegg told lawmakers Monday that the practice needs to stop.
Clegg says it’s “nonsensical” for public institutions to classify and sort people based on race and ethnicity.
UW-Madison Junior Provost Paul DeLuca says the report does not tell the whole story and the university considers many factors for admissions. He says race alone is not the deciding factor in whether a student is admitted to the University.
Clegg urged lawmaker to force a change at the UW, if university officials refuse to do it on their own. If the Legislature does not act, he says a lawsuit may be necessary to force the campus to stop considering race when reviewing student applications.
AUDIO: Andrew Beckett reports 1:09
