The Ozaukee County Board voted Wednesday to restore $8,427 to a program within UW Extension, an arm of the University of Wisconsin devoted to serving Wisconsin community members, including children and continuing adult learners.
The Board cut the amount from the program in August to protest UW-Madison's hiring of Kevin Barrett, the lecturer who made news recently due to his controversial views that the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks were an inside job orchestrated by the U.S. government.
The $8,427 is the exact amount the UW System had slated to pay Barrett for his ""Islam: Religion and Culture"" class this semester.
Members decided to restore the $8,427 to the program because some county residents were concerned that 4-H and other UW Extension programs would suffer unfairly.
However, last month, a Fort Worth, Texas resident raised $8,427 for a scholarship dedicated to UW-Madison students with financial need, to protest the Board's initial decision.
The fundraiser, Cait Burgess, a member of Veterans for 9/11 Truth, has said she shares Barrett's views and donated much of her own money to fund the scholarship.
Although 62 state legislators sent a letter to the UW System in July 2006 demanding Barrett not be allowed to teach, a 10-day review of the embattled lecturer by UW-Madison Provost Patrick Farrell deemed Barrett fit to teach, so long as he did not espouse personal views in the classroom.
