Here & Now

Controversial UW System Survey Delayed

Frederica Freyberg:

It was off. Then it was on. Now it’s off again, for now. We’re talking about a controversial survey asking undergraduates questions about free speech on UW’s 13 universities. One question from the survey, for example, asked whether the student ever experienced a negative consequence like getting a lower grade for disagreeing aloud with a professor over a controversial topic. Some provosts objected to the survey and it was pulled but then the UW System reinstated it and the interim chancellor at UW-Whitewater resigned this week over its use. That’s when the system pulled back once again and delayed the survey. The center at UW-Stout running the survey is funded by the conservative Charles Koch Foundation and the Menards family, major Republican donors. Republicans have pushed for strict rules for students and faculty who say they punish students who express conservative views. The survey was to have been delivered to students’ inboxes Thursday but now will go out in the fall. PBS Wisconsin is part of UW-Madison.