“Would You Really Trade My Humanity for a Building?”: A Higher Education Budget Standoff Between the UW System and State Legislators

This case focuses on the 2023 budget standoff between the Universities of Wisconsin (UW) and the Republican-controlled state legislature. The legislature voted to approve pay raises for UW employees, while simultaneously voting to cut UW funding by $32 million—the amount spent on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). However, the legislature decided to withhold pay raises for UW employees until the system cut all DEI programs. After multiple negotiations, a controversial deal was finalized in December 2023, which included a hiring freeze and realignment of DEI staff positions in exchange for a new engineering building and approved pay raises.