MILWAUKEE — Jesse Bankas, 17, wants to major in business marketing. Jashanti Brown, 18, wants to start her own real estate company. Freddie Soles, 17, wants to be an accountant.

All three are black students at Messmer High School in Milwaukee, from low-income households, and all three plan to go to college — but not the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
“Far,” is the word the students used to describe UW-L.

“Isn’t that way up there?” asked Samantha Stone, 17, who wants to open her own boutique someday.

UW-L Chancellor Joe Gow and university administrators visited Messmer on Monday for a candid discussion about recruiting students like these.

“UW-L, I hope you know, is a fantastic school and probably doesn’t have the visibility, being on the Western side of the state,” Gow said to about a dozen leaders of private high schools in Milwaukee. These schools participate in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, which allows the state to fund the private education of low-income students, most of whom are black.

Gow said he first heard about the program from Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, who suggested he would find high-achieving minority students at such schools.

“(Diversity) is critical to the university,” Gow said. “I would consider myself very successful if five or 10 years from now people said, ‘That campus made great strides in adding diversity to their campus.’ That’s why I went to Milwaukee. That’s why I want to go back.”

Gow mentioned UW-L’s rankings: No. 33 on the Kiplinger’s Best Values list, and U.S. News & World Report rated UW-L the third-best school in its category.

Kathy Kiefer, UW-L associate director of enrollment services, highlighted the school’s wide range of academic options, including health sciences, education, archaeology and an accredited business school.

Al Thompson, assistant to the chancellor for affirmative action and diversity, mentioned the Campus Climate office, which monitors the school’s environment to ensure it’s welcoming and supportive for everyone.

“It’s a beautiful part of the state,” Thompson added.

But Dorothy Travis, founder of Ceria M. Travis Academy in Milwaukee and a UW-L graduate, expressed concern about the mostly all-white university and city. “I had so many nights that I cried,” Travis said of her time in La Crosse before graduating in 1971.

“What kinds of things are we doing so that the wonderful, qualified candidates from choice schools will be accepted at (UW-L) and not have to push their way through so much, like I had to do?” she asked.

“There’s a world of difference,” since 1971, Thomson said.

He mentioned the city’s large Hmong population, a recent series in the La Crosse Tribune about being black in La Crosse and that community members recently attended a conference in Colorado about white privilege.

Recruiting — and retaining — students of color can be challenging, UW-L administrators admitted.

UW-L needs to diversify its faculty and staff, Gow said, so students have role models. Admissions needs to continue to bring low-income students to campus, said Kiefer, by chartering buses and providing free rides. UW-L must continue to create a supportive campus environment, Thompson said.

Messmer Principal Jeff Monday said most of his students will be the first generation of their family to attend college. “They feel alone,” he said.

Ron Shaheed, director of education at the Clara Mohammed School, said many of his students come from broken homes. Shaheed used to run the multicultural office at UW-L, which, for students, can be “like a family, sometimes a family you never had,” he said, “Students saw me as a father figure.”

Despite the challenges, school leaders seemed eager to partner with UW-L.

The fact that a chancellor traveled three and a half hours to visit Messmer impressed everyone, including Monday. “It was just remarkable,” he said. “It spoke volumes about the commitment the chancellor has, as well as UW-L.”

Gow’s trip came weeks before the Wisconsin Legislature is expected to act on Gov. Jim Doyle’s biennial budget, which includes UW-L’s Growth and Access Agenda to improve access, quality and diversity at the university.

The trip wasn’t tied to the plan, Kiefer said. “Whether Growth and Access goes through or not, we’re still interested in offering opportunities to students, making this campus as reflective of the world as we possibly can,” Kiefer said.

If the program doesn’t pass, the problem will be finding money for financial aid, Gow said.

“I wish we, as a society, had more of a commitment to leveling the playing field, and what that means is more financial aid.”

UW-L’s Growth and Access Agenda

The Growth and Access Agenda aims to increase access, quality and diversity at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. If passed, the plan would raise tuition $220 a semester for three years — 2008 to 2011 — and also would increase student enrollment by 1,000. The $15 million generated from these changes would be used to hire 105 new faculty, provide financial aid to low-income and minority students, and hire additional support staff to help retain those students.

The plan, part of an overall growth plan for the UW System, was approved by the Board of Regents and now is being discussed in the Wisconsin Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee. The committee will send its version of the plan to the state Senate, which will send its version to the Assembly. If the versions differ, a conference committee of members of each house will work on the proposal. The goal is to have Gov. Jim Doyle sign the budget by July 1, though the budget might not be approved until August or September.

Source: UW-La Crosse Web site and state Sen. Dan Kapanke

Messmer High School

Location: Haranbee neighborhood in northeast Milwaukee

Religious Affiliation: Roman Catholic

Established: 1926

Number of students: 600

Race/ethnicity: 85 percent African American, 10 percent Hispanic, 5 percent Caucasian and Asian American

Students that go on to college: 90 percent

Students in the Milwaukee Public Choice Program: 85 percent

Price: Cost is $7,500 per student, but students pay $5,000, and the school makes up the difference. Students participating through the MPCP pay nothing — the state pays Messmer $6,500 per student through the voucher program.

How Messmer makes up the difference: Gifts from alumni, foundations and businesses.

Jenny Dolan can be reached at (608) 791-8220 or jdolan@lacrossetribune.com.

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