Cold, isolating and uninclusive-Plan 2008 often paints a bleak picture of UW-Madison campus racial relations. However, a forum hosted by the School of Business this week will try to change that image by closely examining classroom climate in the School of Business, and encouraging a campus-wide discussion on racial inclusivity.
The idea for the forum developed last fall, when Jeffrey Wright, former co-chair of Plan 2008, began approaching the deans of various schools on campus. He spoke with the deans of the School of Education, School of Letters and Sciences and the College of Agricultural Life Sciences among others. The School of Business was the first to bite.
\We know that the School of Business has frequently been seen by others as somewhat insular and perhaps insensitive to the kinds of discussions that are generally considered more a part of 'liberal arts' discussions,"" Miller said. ""We hope that others on this campus will take note that Business School faculty and administration truly believe that these are not topics reserved only for students in the College of Letters and Sciences.""
For the forum to take place, the team had to overcome several obstacles. First, there was the issue of the School of Business' image on campus.
""The business school had to humble itself,"" Wright said. ""Classroom climate and diversity are issues that main institutions continually work on. The school had to realize they could improve on it and take a concrete step.""
The group also wanted to develop a forum that would encourage discussion and have high student attendance. Knetter pitched the idea of Mary Burke, secretary of the Department of Commerce, as a keynote speaker to get students and faculty to see the forum as more than ""just an exercise in academic diversity.""
The forum will include an address from Knetter, dramatizations of classroom situations, a discussion period and a question-and-answer session with a panel assembled by the School of Business.
""We want to encourage our faculty, staff and students to approach the often difficult, frequently controversial topics related to diversity and inclusiveness with open minds,"" Miller said, ""and a willingness to learn from and grow because of others' perceptions and experiences. This is sometimes painful. These things are easy to hide from and not deal with.""
The forum will be held Sept. 30 in Grainger Hall.
