There won’t be any pay raises for UW-Eau Claire workers for the foreseeable future.
University regents on Saturday left all them in limbo when they rejected a deal with Republican lawmakers on diversity, equity, and inclusion spending. Lawmakers offered to release the money for pay raises and millions of dollars more if the university would ‘re-purpose’ some DEI jobs and put a three-year hold on new DEI hires. Regents voted 9-8 against the deal. Regent Evan Brenkus accused supporters of the deal of ‘selling-out minorities for millions of dollars.’
When it comes to reaction, Wisconsin’s governor says he understands why UW regents rejected a deal to trade some DEI jobs for millions of dollars. Governor Tony Evers said regents are clearly divided over the ‘difficult position they were put in.’
The governor says he hopes he can find ‘common ground’ with Republicans at the Capitol, and somehow get them to release the pay raise money, along with the money for the university’s other projects.
