Campus News

Wisconsin Republicans Pass Bill Banning Race-Based Criteria For Some College Grants

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The Republican-controlled Wisconsin Assembly passed a bill Tuesday to ban Wisconsin university system officials from considering race when awarding funds to colleges for certain grants.

Wisconsin Democratic Gov. Tony Evers sued the Republican-controlled legislature in October over its blocking of funding for the University of Wisconsin system over its expenditures on diversity, equity and inclusion, (DEI) which the legislature has been blocking since June. Assembly Bill 554 states that when determining if a student is “disadvantaged” when establishing who is eligible for a grant, race and gender cannot be used in the determination.

“The bill also specifies that, in determining whether a student is disadvantaged, the student’s race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or religion may not be considered, either directly or indirectly. This prohibition applies to the UW system for all purposes for which it determines whether a student is disadvantaged,” the bill reads.

“The bill changes this grant program so that grants are awarded for programs related to disadvantaged students rather than minority students,” the bill continues.

Wisconsin Democratic Gov. Tony Evers is expected to veto the bill and Assembly Bill 553, which will withhold state grants from schools that violate free speech rights on campus repeatedly.

“We need to recognize there is a problem,” Republican Rep. Jerry O’Connor, the bill’s sponsor, said, according to The Associated Press.

Republican lawmakers slashed the UW system’s budget by $32 million in June and have withheld pay raises for UW employees since then until school officials cut spending on DEI efforts.

Race-based programs and practices have come under fire across the nation.

The Supreme Court banned the use of race in admissions in June, saying the practice violated the 14th Amendment. Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill outlawing the funding of DEI at universities in June, and Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill doing the same in March.

O’Connor and Evers did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.