The UW System spends about $13.6 million annually on 185 administrators related to DEI, with most of the positions concentrated at UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee, according to records first reported on by WisPolitics. The $13.6 million in salaries represents about 0.2% of the UW System’s $6.9 billion annual operating budget.
Vos called for eliminating funding for all of the DEI positions, saying the offices are a waste of public tax dollars and teach students to view the world entirely through the lens of race. He cited examples he has heard where people had to fill out DEI statements to apply for a UW job and students had to discuss white privilege at freshmen orientation.
“The university has gone from being an institute of higher education to an institute of indoctrination,” he said.
Vos said he met with UW System President Jay Rothman and chancellors to offer his ideas on how the UW System can make good on his request.
The UW System could, for example, internally reallocate the money funding DEI offices to other programs it is seeking funding for, such as nursing, engineering and other high-demand fields.