It was late February on UW-Milwaukee’s campus, and about a dozen students gathered outside the student union. They chanted, "education is a right, not just for the rich and white."
The students were braving the freezing temperatures and the whipping wind to protest an announcement from the university that eight of its student centers would be merged.
The announcement said the centers affected would be those that were designed for women, Black students, Hispanic students, Southeast Asian students, veterans, first-generation students and commuters.
“We are in a world where it is increasingly difficult to be non-white," UWM student Juan Luis Flores said at the protest. "We need a university that will actually listen to our concerns, rather than pretend that we do not exist.”
At the time, UWM didn’t give a clear reason for the change. But in its Jan. 28 announcement, the university said that “The evolving federal landscape on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) was considered as part of the planning discussion.”
UWM joined many universities scaling back DEI efforts in fear of losing federal funding.
Across the country and in Milwaukee, universities have been responding to lawsuits and perceived pressure by President Donald Trump's administration to end initiatives that serve diversity, equity and inclusion goals.
Harvard University sued and won after the administration froze its research grants. Others like Cornell and Brown Universities have chosen to pay settlements to the Trump administration to end inquiries into campus policies and to restore funding.
Last fall, Milwaukee Area Technical College ended some services at its multicultural center and cut four employees' jobs. All four have filed complaints with the state’s Department of Workforce Development, arguing their rights were violated.
Longtime leader of Hernández Center tapped to lead student center project
But UWM's student center relocation plan didn’t last.
In May, the university walked back the student center consolidation. UWM announced that the centers will stay put in the upcoming school year. But next year, the centers will relocate from two campus buildings to a single space in the student union. They'll keep their original names.
Alberto Maldonado runs the Roberto Hernández center, which has existed for more than 50 years to serve Hispanic students at UWM. One month ago, he was promoted to become the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Connection and Achievement. He’s now overseeing the student center project. He says he doesn't like calling it a consolidation.
“We’re not looking at physical changes or co-locating probably until summer of next year," he says.
The Hernández Center hosts a bilingual open house for families of incoming UWM students and raises money for scholarships for Hispanic students. It also provides a safe space for students to connect and process current events together.
Maldonado says that's a piece that’s become vitally important as ICE has ramped up enforcement and violence in American cities in the last year.
“Student organizations have come to us and said ‘how can you help? Where can you point us to resources? Can we talk to an immigration lawyer? Can we seek information here on campus? Can you ensure that our information is protected by FERPA?'" he says.
Maldonado has to support the changes to the student centers, because he’s leading them. But he says that the recent pivot came directly from student feedback to the original announcement.
“Was it perfect? I think that many people can agree that it wasn’t," he says. "But I think the good thing was that open invitation that it allowed for students to be heard, for us to not rush through it."
Students push for UWM support centers to remain distinct
Sierra Lee is a rising junior at UWM and a student organizer who has led an effort to push back against consolidation.
She describes the women’s center as a sort of home base for her to connect with other Black women. Lee says merging that space with others is counterproductive.
“A lot of students felt that they needed somewhere to go and hang out with people who are just like them," she says. "It’s always about building community and building a sense of belonging as well as individuality.”
Asked what she thinks of the plan to pause the consolidation until 2027, she says she doesn't see the point in moving the centers at all.
“Essentially, if they’re keeping their names and they’re keeping their services, their programs are going to remain the same, there should be no need in them relocating — or, they’re calling it a co-location — of these centers.”
For now, most UWM students are out for the summer. Lee says she’ll continue talking with campus leadership about keeping their home bases feeling like home.
Do you have a question about education or how schools work in our area? Submit it here to WUWM education reporter Katherine Kokal.
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