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Forum participants spend day discussing diversity issues

October 11, 2011 By Valeria Davis

As an expert in educational practice and policy as it relates to diverse student populations, Pedro Noguera summarized the nation’s dilemma repeatedly in his address to more than 500 participants at the annual UW–Madison Diversity Forum, held Oct. 6.

Noguera’s presentation “Creating the Schools Where Black and Latino Males Can Thrive,” was part of a day of productive discussion that also included an update on campus diversity from Vice Provost for Diversity and Climate Damon A. Williams.

“The work that we do is important and matters because we have tremendous educational disparities in the state of Wisconsin,” Williams said. “It’s for those reasons that we’ve built a broad-spanning diversity infrastructure — one that not only focuses on issues of access and opportunity for students who are underrepresented and economically challenged but one that brings the discussion on diversity into the 21st century through the broadened idea of inclusion.”

Williams pointed out the many important roles UW–Madison plays globally.

“We need to be great stewards of our resources,” Williams said, adding that the definition of resources encompasses people, the service of providing education, the products and intellectual property of research, and the funding that makes it all possible.

“It’s important that we are not only leveraging the funds that we get through general purpose revenue and tuition, but we are also looking for those additional monies that expand the margin of possibilities for our university. Diversity has to be a part of all that.”

In Noguera’s talk, he also recommended more than a dozen ways to make a difference individually and collectively.

Correlating the “syndrome” impacting black and Latino males to how the HIV virus disables the body’s immune system, the New York University professor and keynote speaker labeled the problems of low educational achievement, high unemployment and high mortality rates as the virus fueling the breakdown of the community, leaving black and Latino males vulnerable to lifelong failure. 

“This will only be resolved when we acknowledge as a nation that what effects one of us affects all of us,” said Noguera.

Participants spent the day discussing how education of minority males is largely failing, as well as the challenges of higher-education access and funding for undocumented students. Participants also attended sessions on teaching and learning, creating a more culturally aware campus for LGBTQ students and attracting and retaining a more diversified faculty. Several students also spoke, along with a special performance by First Wave Hip Hop Theater Ensemble.

From parental involvement and discipline patterns to the disproportionate allocation of funds based on intended outcomes, Madison Urban League executive director Kaleem Caire gave an update on local minority achievement. Noguera and Caire both talked about how to create schools where black and Latino males can thrive, followed by a question-and-answer session.     

“The future of our young people is uncertain,” said Caire. Madison has changed drastically in the past 20 years, especially the Madison Metropolitan School District. According to Caire, since 1991 the district’s number of low-income students has risen to 47 percent, while there are half as many white students now attending Madison schools.

The number of black students is hovering around 20 percent, although the percentage of blacks in the city’s population is only 12 percent, he said. Poverty among Madison minority students has skyrocketed to 85 percent for African Americans, 84 percent for Latino Americans and 49 percent for Asian Americans, he added.

“In this great university town, you should be able to do better,” Noguera said. “If you loved your children like you love football, you would be fine. Love your kids, all your kids.” 

 

Tags: diversity