Sims stretched too thin as university’s diversity efforts falter
By Peter Coutu | Oct. 3, 2016Within the past year, protesters at UW-Madison have struggled to achieve change. Actually providing the change they strive for on campus can prove to be a similarly frustrating pursuit for administrators. The person whose job entails fighting for diversity and inclusion-related activities at the university is Patrick Sims, the chief diversity officer at UW-Madison. In an article titled “What is a Chief Diversity Officer?” Damon Williams, a prominent researcher on the position, describes it as someone who always treats diversity as a top priority, “where others [in administration] work on issues of diversity as a matter of second or third priority.” The equity and inclusion committee chair for Associated Students of Madison during the 2015-’16 academic year, Mariam Coker, said many students do not realize the dynamic between Sims and the rest of senior administration on issues of diversity. “Something that students need to realize with Patrick Sims’ position is that he is the only person at the admin level dealing with these types of issues,” Coker said in an April 10 interview with The Daily Cardinal.
