July 5th 2023.
People are in an uproar after the Supreme Court's shocking ruling to end affirmative action, with Republican politicians like Robin Vos leading the charge. Vos, the Republican speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly, responded to a tweet claiming a minority scholarship program designated for students of Black, Indigenous, Hispanic or Asian descent presented a form of discrimination. He vowed to "introduce legislation to correct the discriminatory laws on the books and pass repeals in the fall."
Vos is well known for his opposition to DEI efforts; he once referred to programs at the University of Wisconsin System as "indoctrination". After his comments on Twitter, he also retweeted a user who said Ivy League schools "hate rural whites."
Vos and other state Republicans voted to cut $32 million from the UW System's budget unless they agreed to use the funds for workforce development over DEI efforts. They also have a plan that seeks to cut close to 200 DEI jobs on the school's campuses.
Missouri's attorney general, Andrew Bailey, isn't giving the state any more time to adjust to the ruling. In a letter sent to all state colleges, Bailey wrote, “Institutions in Missouri must implement the Supreme Court’s decisions immediately…All Missouri programs that make admitting decisions by disfavoring individuals based on race—not just college admissions, but also scholarships, employment, law reviews, etc.—must immediately adopt race-blind standards.”
The University of Missouri system—with campuses in Columbia, Kansas City, Rolla, and St. Louis—refuted Bailey's statement in a response. They said that regardless of the ruling, all universities "will honor our financial aid commitments that have already been awarded to our returning and incoming students." According to Christian Basi, a spokesman for the university system, $16.12 million had been spent in the past academic year on scholarships where race or ethnicity was a factor. This figure represents 5.3 percent of total spending on student aid.
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