UW Chancellor John Wiley and state Senate Glenn Grothman sparred over the role race in UW admissions, during a Capital hearing Thursday.
Grothmann, who chairs the legislature's Special Committee on Affirmative Action, asked Wiley "to describe the role race plays in admissions at UW Madison." Wiley said race is just one of the factors that the UW considers in admissions. He said for public accountability, the UW wants its students to reflect the complexion of the state; "what characteristics they have, where they're from, what race they are, what gender they are."
Grothmann suggested that UW officials should consider removing race from application forms. That suggestion from Grothman drew this response from Wiley. "Anyone who has lived at all in the 20th century, and not been a cave somewhere, couldn't possibly say that race is irrelevant."