RICHLAND CENTER, Wis. – In a listening session with state legislators Monday, UW-Platteville at Richland students and supporters pushed back against the UW System’s decision to close the area’s branch campus.
UW System President Jay Rothman made the announcement in Nov. 2022 that the UW System would close in-person classes at UW-Plateville’s Richland campus come July 2023, citing steep enrollment declines and financial pressures.
Richland student Jake Steel was among several again voicing their disapproval Monday that the people impacted by the closure weren’t notified sooner and believes more solutions should be considered.
“They’ve seen our enrollment go down. They’ve seen our budget go down. They see our staff lost,” said Steel. “Why was nothing said through this whole process?”
In their fight to keep campus open, students with the support of alumni, city leaders, and neighbors from the greater Richland community turned their attention to Republican State Senator Howard Marklein. Marklein listened to the community’s concerns for more than an hour and said he understands where they were coming from, and that he too was blindsided by the decision.
“I got a call hours before the announcement,” Marklein said. “It wasn’t a conversation that we had. [Rothman] didn’t ask for any input. I was informed.”
Marklein said, even as co-chair of the state’s budget-writing Joint Finance Committee, he doesn’t believe he has the power to reverse the UW System’s decision.
Still, students and their supporters are asking for Marklein’s help getting system officials to take a second look and reconsider an investment in the campus’s future. Session speakers also claimed part of the reason enrollment numbers declined steeply was because the UW System stopped giving the branch campus financial support and attention.
Sophomore Jackson Kenny said he in part blames his school’s regionalization with UW-Platteville a few years ago, when he believes the Richland campus first started to decline.
“We want them to realize that and make it right,” Kenny said. “It’s really unjust and unfair what has happened to UW Richland.”
In an op-ed article published in the Valley Sentinel, the areas local newspaper, editorial staff even argued getting the courts involved. The article encourages Richland County to take legal action against the UW System over its handling of the Richland campus.
Those who want to see the campus remain open recommend exploring solutions like hiring a dedicated recruitment officer and reinvesting in an international student population before choosing to shut the school down entirely. Richland supporters also said the school’s impact goes beyond the classroom, crediting the school with bringing in a cultural hub, new residents, and money into the city.
The Richland County Board has plans to meet for a closed session Tuesday night to discuss the campus closure and the path forward.
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