 Thank you all this unique live event that is being streamed across five locations in our state Was brought to us by our great funder the Lumina Foundation as well as our higher education partners For collaboration on this work. Can we give them all a hand? The Lumina Foundation has not only supported this day and this event, but all of the 64 word work to date At this time we want to take an opportunity to hear from the student perspective We had three students slotted But as we all know for students, especially life happens and so we are excited still to welcome William Vargas William is a senior at UW Parkside in Kenosha majoring in communications He is a student leader who has worked at the office of Multicultural Student Affairs and is an active member of a Multicultural fraternity prior to today's event. We pose two questions for our student What was your path to college and what was one experience where you felt included in the classroom at this time? Please join me and welcoming William. Hello everyone. My name is William Vargas I would like to thank you all for allowing me to speak with you today So yes, the two questions that were posed to me Were questions that I really really had to sit down and think about I think the main reasons why I had to think about it was because a Lot of the experiences that I've had in the accumulation of all of these experiences that have brought me here today Started with these two questions. So my path to college. Why did I decide to come to college? What led me to be able to stand in front of you all today? so Growing up my parents gave me one option go to college and that was it Reason being I'm a child of immigrants I'm a first-generation student and they knew the struggles that they had without a degree and did not want me to go Through that myself So college was always the option the only issue was as a first-generation student We didn't know where to start. We didn't know what to do and that's when the Faculty and staff at the University of Wisconsin Parkside the most culturally diverse University in the UW system really came into play Without multiple different offices including student support services and the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs I wouldn't have found my way to Parkside. I wouldn't have found a way to pay for schooling Which we know is probably one of the biggest setbacks that students have But also I wouldn't have felt encouraged to keep moving forward Deciding to be a communication major wasn't an easy choice Originally, I wanted to be a doctor. I wanted to be a veterinarian But I realized that my path was leading me elsewhere and the reason why I noticed that my path was leading me elsewhere Was because what I learned in the classroom my freshman year. I took communication 108 with one of the professors at the University of Wisconsin Parkside and One of the main reasons why I decided to move forward with communication was because I felt a sense of community That sense of community is what helped me continue to move forward not only in the classroom, but in the university as a whole Unfortunately throughout my path. I did have to take a break I did have to take time off, but if it wasn't for that sense of community that I had established prior to taking my break I know I wouldn't have made it back Being in a classroom that has that sense of community gives you that sense of validation and Validation is key for success for students of color for non-traditional students like myself for first-generation students like myself So I am very proud to stand here as a first-generation Non-traditional queer student of color knowing that I am valid. Thank you Thank You, William and as quickly as we lose students we get students and so we're excited that Logan Shang a Madison College graduate who is also now working here at Madison College as a student support specialist was able to join us Logan again is a liberal arts transfer student who is now attending UW Madison. So he fits two of our system Settings at this time. I would welcome Logan to the stage Focusing on those same two questions Thank you everyone So focusing on the first question my path to college I feel that Coming here to when I have first attended Madison College For me it was accessibility and affordability I Feel like those are the two key areas where Brought me to Madison College back in 2008 It was a hard transition Just kind of give you guys a little scope of my my different inter intersectionality of my life Being a non-traditional student student of color and having a disability Was that the intersectionality of how do I? Navigate the educational system with these this inter intersectionality And it was I was very fortunate that when I came in Madison College. I was able to Be connected to disability resource services here and with my specialist We were he was able to help me navigate the educational system and Has supported me through my whole process and then I'm gonna Talk about the second question a little bit of how did I feel? included in the classroom, I would say one key example that I have is when I had to take a biology course that has a lecture component and a laboratory component and just the the Inclusiveness of the instructor always asking me hey, do you do you need support here? Would you like to modify the lab the labs a little bit and then me being the self-advocate of? knowing what I needed to be successful and working with my disability resource disability resource specialists to really give me the access to Different technology so I can understand the information So I I feel like that's that's where I really felt like I felt a part of the campus and Being felt like you weren't being left out That's probably the prime example I can really give Yeah, that's that's pretty much all I have Thank you. All right. Good morning everyone at this time I'd like to ask Teresa Craig associate vice president for WTCS and Dr. Rolf Wiganke president and chief executive officer of the Wisconsin Association of independent colleges and universities Up to the stage to provide a welcome from our higher education systems Unfortunately, Dr. Cross was unable to be here with us today But we do have a brief recording of his comments on the slide to follow Teresa Craig currently serves as associate vice president of student success in the Wisconsin technical college system with 16 colleges that enroll more than 300,000 students each year Based on curriculum development in partnership with industry leaders from every economic sector The colleges develop people at every stage of their academic and work careers into the technical experts and small business owners that ultimately drive economic development in communities throughout Wisconsin Miss Craig has 20 years of experience in student development in higher education leadership And in a time of rapid change believes in the power of technical education to enrich lives and strengthen Wisconsin's economy Rolf Wiganke is the president and chief executive officer of the Wisconsin Association of independent colleges and universities Otherwise known as WICU WICU represents the 24 private nonprofit institutions of higher education throughout our state and With that we're very thankful that dr. Wiganke has here to share his time and his expertise with us this morning Dr. Ray cross dr. Cross began his appointment as the seventh president of the University of Wisconsin system in February 15th of 2014 the UW systems to doctoral universities 11 comprehensive universities 13 freshmen and sophomore UW colleges and statewide UW extension annually serve more than 181,000 students and reach more than one million Wisconsin citizens through outreach public broadcasting and continuing education programs Dr. Cross leads the UW system workforce of some 40,000 faculty academic and classified staff and graduate assistants He's also responsible for the UW systems 5.9 billion dollar annual budget made up of state support federal funding tuition and fees and private gifts and he reports directly to the UW system Board of Regents Previously dr. Cross served as Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin Colleges and University of Wisconsin extension from February 11 to February of 14 From 1998 until coming to Wisconsin in 2011 dr. Cross was president of Morrisville State College a residential agriculture and technology College of the State University of New York He led that school in developing and implementing a new college vision and strategic plan Which strengthened the institution's academic quality promoted the development of several new academic programs Integrated technology into all programs Encouraged entrepreneurialism and innovation and established applied business centers throughout that college Dr. Cross also spearheaded several agriculture energy and technology initiatives Including the ThinkPad University partnership with IBM and a biodiesel co-generation project and made rural Entrepreneurship a priority so with that we have a brief welcome from dr. Cross We'll play it last just so we can figure that out. We may need some technical assistance Thank You Scott So obviously it's my pleasure again to join you and I do bring remarks by WTCS president dr. Mornafoy who is not able to be with us today She thanks you for taking the time to join your colleagues across Wisconsin for this important professional development opportunity Last year the Wisconsin technical college system released its system-wide equity report While we take pride in being an open access to our Institutions and in our focus on student success That report confirmed that we have work to do to close equity gaps to assure the success of all of our students And to be sure that those leading teaching and working in our colleges represent the strength in the diversity of our student population The focus of the Department of Public Instruction and our K-12 partners is on preparing all graduating high school seniors To be college and career ready That's critically important for those students But also for our communities and those employers in our communities and yet having traditional students be college and career Ready is only a part of the way forward in Higher education we focus on student access and student success Assuring high school seniors our college and career ready really only addresses the access part of that equation If we expect incoming students to be college ready, we have to commit to being student ready To afford them the greatest chance for success in the classroom and in their chosen careers Being student ready it's not a simple matter not all students do arrive college ready And many have learning styles that require adaptable instruction methods as both of our students illustrated At the same time students expectations for when where and how instruction will be delivered Continues to change rapidly At the top of the list is the need for students to be safe Welcome and included What happens in our classrooms is central to that which is what brings us together for this important and valuable day I'm confident you'll make the most of it staying connected with one another To share insights and successes going forward so that we can press ahead in this important work That will be a critical part of our systems shared effort to increase the post-secondary attainment rate in Wisconsin under 60 forward So again, thank you for taking advantage of this opportunity and let's have a great day of learning together At this time I would welcome Rolf to the stage Good morning again. I want to start with an apology. I think it's it's rude to come in when the program's already started But it wasn't a little fender bender. Everybody's okay But it certainly does delay arriving on time I am honored to be here today to in behalf of the Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities To honor you to welcome you and of course to partner with the Wisconsin Technical College System and the UW system our state's attainment goal 60 forward is an all-hands-on-deck Initiative and no one sector and no one leader can accomplish this goal by working alone Equity plays an important role in achieving our attainment goal We will never achieve our ambitious goals if we do not remove barriers to opportunity We are all here with a shared purpose to open the doors of opportunity for all students Thank you for your commitment Not only today, but in the work that you do every day We hope you will leave here ready to ready and equipped with more knowledge and better tools So that together our institutions I'm sorry. I can't read my own writing here I'll try that again With better tools that together we can move the needle on student success 60 forward Goes far beyond our institutions or even Wisconsin's economy It is about doing what we know is morally right and what is best for our students Wacoos mission is working together for educational opportunity What we do here today will reverberate into the future as students you teach Transmit this knowledge to future generations I will close by quoting Maya Anshalu in saying when you know better you do better Thank you Thank you for those inspiring words dr. Wagenke going to attempt Today's focus on post-secondary attainment is needed more than ever to build communities and improve lives for people across, Wisconsin This is especially important at a time when our population is aging and most experts agree the jobs in the future will increasingly Require a high-quality post-secondary credential Growing Wisconsin's attainment rate will not only improve lives at the personal level It will also improve all of our futures So I thank you for your work and stand ready to assist on this critical effort It gives me great pleasure to welcome our third student who was able to get in So again, we're excited about that all you faculty. This isn't uncommon, right? We welcome them in however they come Brooklyn Dixon is a graduate of the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, which is an independent college Again, I will remind us of the two posed questions What was your path to college and what was one experience where you felt included in the classroom, Brooklyn? Good morning, everyone Excuse me at my tardiness. I was pulled over by Madison police This is my first time ever in Madison as you can tell by my name I'm not from Wisconsin, but thank you for having me Um My path to college was really um me trying to get away from home Um, I mean that in a good and a bad way. I was searching for independence But also I was running from family issues and I was seeking my own like support system far away from here I had a couple women in my community that sort of Forced me By like guiding me down the right path to make sure I got To where I needed to go and the scholarships that I needed But being in college was like very Turbulent I Didn't have many experiences that made me feel included in the classroom In fact, I had experiences in which when I pointed out some of the Racist things that were happening to me. Some of my professors actually denounced that and denied some of my claims so One of the best experiences I did feel though was I had a class run by a professor named Andrew Lindsay where we um we broke down lyrics to rap songs and it made me feel like I could actually express my ideas on a level where like a Collegiate level to put it in that way And it helped me find comfort in the classroom The other thing that helped me find comfort in the classroom was really something I'd like to call the gospel and I'm not up here to talk about religion, but I Think the gospel and definition is of course like the teachings of Christ however it's also defined as Black American evangelical singing Usually southern usually Christian The gospel tends to find itself growing in my lungs on the days when the mosque that is my body is empty It's when nobody is listening Something inside me still be singing Something inside me be ringing it be church bells making trap music against my chest Because they couldn't find a way to call me treasure without two chains Or at least two cuffs It'd be hard to build the cell tall enough without at least a couple stories So she told the overseer my name was Emmett. I was in the field down by the river But the fair skin girls that she seen a panther throwing paws in the middle of the third wards that she could have swore He hit a pig She said his hair was coarse She said his lips were big so the overseer told the master ain't nothing slick to a can of oil Don't nothing dry slower than a can of paint and don't nothing boil over faster than a black boy from hell's kitchen So when we shoot Don't miss him Then read him a Miranda Tell him to take the withdrawal after he's been back into a corner call his therapist call a corner Sign a paper Let's write him off So I had to find myself and telling them catch me off of these corners Off of Wisconsin and water singing Kendrick to the congregation my DNA not for imitation I'd rather die than be your target. I rather you take my crown than my voice You don't know me to be violent But you damn sure don't know me to be silent and I've seen how fast your tongue ties when the fair skin girl gets to talking When her imagination gets to work and they get to asking you questions like are you walking around the institution speaking low and angrily to yourself? And I'm like, yeah, I bet Like y'all don't listen to DMX like it's a crime for me to know these rap songs like the back of my hand I see how you've given me the back of your hand I see how you've given me the side of your cheek I peep how my presence makes you tweak how it ignites your fear how this black boy joy brings you to tears How a piece of you is sacrifice for this seance, but I know I Know that they don't know how to dance like me So watch me rain dance when the drought get to grabbing at my pockets watch me We dream like web watch my knuckles make magic see him construct call it built call it flexing I know we love to see a black body in distress but my body too holy to not see the God Pouring out of my pores too. Holy to not see the depression at my ankles Because they've been trying to tell me I can't dance Like my mama Ain't teach me better than any Floyd Mayweather like she ain't teach me to survive in a concrete jungle So call me ape call me Bobby call me Huey call me Emmett or call me a gospel Brewing in my lungs on the days when the moss that is my body is empty This institution has not taught me to hate the black that is me Thank you, I appreciate you and this folks is why we're here We need more Williams More Brooklands More Logan's to make it through our institutions and to find their way