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Students critique ASM’s political actions Chair claims politics are unavoidable, conservative students question their ability to be representative Story by Nina Bertelsen As students walk down East Campus Mall and look up, while fending off bitter January winds, they will catch a glimpse of a prominent sign proclaiming, “Black Lives Matter” that hangs in the fourth floor office window of the Associated Students of Madison. Past the layer of glass, ASM representatives work to distribute $48 million in student segregated fees, run grassroots campaigns and represent UW-Madison students on campus and at the Capitol. Recently, ASM has come under criticism for taking a stance on political issues. Some conservative students think that ASM’s actions do not represent the entire student body, and question if the group should be completely nonpartisan and politically neutral on all issues. Student criticisms At the end of the fall semester, a conservative junior Harold Britton
LEAH VOSKULL (BOTTOM PHOTOS) AND WILL CHIZEK (TOP RIGHT)/THE DAILY CARDINAL
Associated Students of Madison has been criticized for the “Black Lives Matter” sign on their office windows (left), as well as their opposition to campus carry (top right). ASM Chair Carmen Goséy (bottom right) has defended these stances, and said she is willing to meet with students who disagree. filed a complaint with the Office of Compliance against ASM for displaying the “Black Lives Matter” sign in their office window. ASM Chair Carmen Goséy
said that she and Vice Chair Mariam Coker hung the sign following Wisconsin Union President Deshawn McKinney placing BLM signs in the Union
and an increase in fear surrounding minority rights. Britton said that he was not against the message of the sign, but was upset the student govern-
ment would publicly endorse the political platform behind BLM. “When ASM is promoting Black Lives Matter, they’re not just promoting black lives, they’re promoting these liberal ideologies and taking a partisan stand,” said Britton. “As a conservative on campus I don’t appreciate the people in charge of our student fees taking such a political stand.” Britton said that he wouldn’t put his name behind BLM, “I wouldn’t want to see ASM force students to put their name behind that group … and saying our student body endorses that group when not all students do,” Britton said. The Legislative Affairs Committee’s anti-campus carry campaign has also drawn criticism. In a blog post Abby Streu, a freshman and member of Young Americans for Freedom, said that “Student Council members are abusing their powers as student representatives to push their political agenda.”
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Professor’s PowerPoint slide labels black woman as an animal, sparks outrage By Sammy Gibbons THE DAILY CARDINAL
MORGAN WINSTON/THE DAILY CARDINAL
Students on campus Tuesday were handed flyers outside the Chemistry Building urging them to join the Madison American Freedom Party, which fights “anti-white racism on campus.”
UW-Madison students denounce possible ‘alt-right’ group on campus By Noah Habenstreit THE DAILY CARDINAL
Few issues have been as divisive recently as the rise of the “alt-right,” an extreme group that many see as a haven for white supremacists. Now, one student is seeking to bring the movement to campus. Daniel Dropik, a UW-Madison student and the founder of the Madison American Freedom Party, caused a stir Tuesday. Flyers advertising the “alt-right”
club urged students to “fight antiwhite racism on campus.” The flyers direct students to the club’s website, which says the Madison American Freedom Party aims to become a “fully fledged registered student club.” “Even the fanatically liberal-progressive stronghold of UW-Madison, cannot, and must not evade the fruitful opportunity for lively discourse, and intellectual growth, that UW-Madison’s own Alt-Right community can
provide,” the website says. Many UW-Madison students were quick to denounce the club once it came to their attention. Dane Skaar, who was handed a flyer outside the chemistry building Tuesday, took to Facebook to express his disbelief. “Anti-white racism does not exist in American society period,” Skaar wrote in the post, which has been shared over 250 times. “This
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A lecture slide that showed a black woman above the word “animals” in a UW-Madison lecture Monday sparked student outrage on social media. A student in the class tweeted a picture Tuesday of the PowerPoint slide, which appeared in a lecture of Botany 123. The message posted with the photo read “UW is definitely still #TheRealUW if y’all was confused.” Professor Caitilyn Allen, the instructor of the course, said the day’s lecture topic was the Irish potato famine, which was caused by an organism called oomycetes. In an attempt to illustrate that oomycetes are no more related to fungi than to plants and animals, she showed a rough tree of life diagram featuring the controversial image. Allen said at this point in the lecture a student asked her why she chose the image of the woman. “I explained that too often scientific images represent all of humanity as a white male and I wanted to present humanity in a more representative way and especially
as a farmer because this class is about agriculture,” Allen said. “I’ve done research in both Uganda and Guatemala and I respect and admire the women farmers of the developing tropics.” She said another student approached her after lecture and explained how attaching the word “animals” to a picture of a black woman was offensive, because of the non-biological, derogatory implications. Allen addressed the issue and apologized in lecture Wednesday. “I feel it was a mistake for me to have used that image because in addition to my intended and inclusive biological meaning the image also communicated an unintended and negative social message,” Allen said to The Daily Cardinal. “I’m distressed that I inadvertently offended students. Certainly my intention was the opposite, but I do understand how it came across in a very bad way.” She said she has not received any more feedback about the image.
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“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”