MADISON, Wis.
A second Black dean at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater is raising questions about whether his race played a role in a campus audit of his spending.
Dr. Howard Ross, dean of the College of Letters and Sciences, said he asked university officials if he and the school’s other Black dean, Dr. Lee Jones, were singled out for audits because of their race.
Ross said he has yet to hear a response. But UW-Whitewater Chancellor Martha Saunders told The Associated Press last week race had nothing to do with either audit.
Ross’ remarks come as his colleague Jones is asking a Dane County judge to block the university from releasing an audit scrutinizing his spending.
Jones, dean of graduate studies at UW-Whitewater, argues in the lawsuit that releasing the report will harm the university’s diversity efforts. But state lawyers told a judge there is no reason to suppress the record.
Jones’ lawyer, David Lasker, said he doubts it is a coincidence that the only two Black deans have been the subject of such scrutiny.
