White Multicultural Student Services Administrator’s Race Discrimination Claim Against U Wisconsin Can Go Forward
From yesterday’s decision by Judge James Peterson (W.D. Wisc.) in Hoffman v. Bd of Regents:
Hoffman previously worked in the Blugold Beginnings office at the university, which provides support to low-income, first-generation, and other underrepresented students. In 2022, Blugold Beginnings merged with the Office of Multicultural Affairs to become the Multicultural Student Services department.
After Hoffman was appointed interim director of the new department, students, faculty, and staff objected to her appointment because she was white. Hoffman [sues] …, contending that the university … demoted Hoffman from her leadership position, … forced Hoffman to transfer to a different department, and then retaliated in various ways against Hoffman for filing a racial discrimination complaint….
In late January 2022, Diaz {the vice chancellor of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Student Affairs} asked Hoffman to serve as interim director of the new MSS department and Hoffman accepted. Hoffman’s appointment generated backlash from students. At open houses on February 14 and February 18, students asked Diaz why she “hired a white woman as the interim director” and questioned whether Diaz “personally fe[lt] that white staff can do as effective a job as a person of color, within a space for people of color.” The student senate also released a resolution on February 28 expressing “concerns over placing white-identifying individuals in positions of interim leadership for major [equity, diversity, and inclusion] offices.”
Some faculty and staff also expressed disapproval with Hoffman’s appointment as interim director. In a private meeting with Diaz on February 11, non-white faculty members expressed concerns about the u
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