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But now a member of the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents has apparently come up with a new tactic — Don’t talk to the messenger.
At issue were some controversial-sounding changes being considered for UW admissions.
The changes, designed to boost the numbers of minority and low-income students at UW campuses, were criticized by politicians and others who thought they would prevent students with good academic records from attending UW campuses.
When the university issued a defensive press release in response to criticism from Gov. Jim Doyle, Republican gubernatorial challenger Mark Green and legislators, Regent Tom Loftus suggested that UW officials should stop answering questions from reporters about admissions or other topics.
“You don’t have to answer these questions,” Loftus said at last week’s Board of Regents meeting. “This recent round of stories hurt, hurt a great deal ... We have to get beyond self-inflicted wounds. There are so many others willing to inflict them.”
Loftus is right that there are plenty of politicians and others who like nothing better than to batter the UW system. And he also is right that some of the problems facing UW are the result of “self-inflicted” wounds.
The problem was that the intent of the plan was poorly communicated at the start. But refusing to engage in a dialogue with reporters or the public about potentially controversial policies is not the way to address the issues. When proposals are complex and potentially controversial, that’s the time to communicate more, not less.
It’s surprising that Loftus, a very smart guy who used to be a legislator, Assembly speaker and ambassador to Norway, would advocate stonewalling as the best way to deal with a controversial issue.
Actually, the university probably got a bad rap from the politicians on this issue, because the need to increase access to public higher education to low-income students is very great.
Low-income students — and minority students, because a greater number of them come from homes with low incomes — are vastly under-represented at UW campuses, and the numbers are getting worse, not better, over time.
Out of more than 40,000 UW-Madison students, there only were 331 black males and 373 black females in 2004. It wasn’t much better at UW-Milwaukee, in a city with a much larger black population. Out of more than 26,000 students, there were only 576 black males and 990 black females in 2004.
Those are abysmal numbers. Our public higher education student body should look more like the population as a whole.
Education is a key to getting out of poverty. If low-income students can’t get into UW campuses for whatever reason, then we’re failing them.
If they’re not getting in because their grades don’t measure up, then we need to make sure that they get the help they need to succeed.
If they’re not getting in for financial reasons or because low-income families are reluctant take take out loans because they are afraid they won’t be able to pay back the debt, then we need more grants and work-study opportunities.
It’s a complicated issue. Admissions standards must be clear and fair to all. But if low-income and minority students are not getting adequate access to higher education, we need to fix that.
But university officials can’t do what needs to be done if they fail to have a public discussion about it — or if they stonewall legitimate questions about controversial and complicated problems.
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