Group says UW race-based counseling is illegal; lawsuit threatened

Posted at 1:45 p.m. on October 6, 2021

The Brillion News

MILWAUKEE – The conservative advocacy law firm WILL – the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty – has sent a letter to top University of Wisconsin officials, warning the UW system not to use new counselors to work only with “students of color.”

The UW-Madison quietly updated their September 9 announcement, nearly a month after it went out, to suggest their mental health counselors will not serve students exclusively on the basis of race.

WILL Deputy Counsel Dan Lennington said his organization will be watching the UW closely to see if the university is being honest when it says it will not discriminate on the basis of race when it uses counseling resources.

“While we don’t necessarily oppose counselors claiming certain expertise in issues facing students of color, we remain concerned that such ‘expertise’ will consist of little more than stereotypes and worry about the disparate treatment that such stereotypical thinking might beget," Lennington said in a letter to UW System President Tommy Thompson and UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank. “[S]hould counseling services be provided in a discriminatory way, UW may be hearing from us.”