I read with interest the Opinion article by William Holahan and Matt Flynn (“UW-Milwaukee would be demoted by plan to split apart Wisconsin university system,” Dec. 11) about the recently concluded Legislative Study Committee on the future of the UW System. I was a member of that committee, and while I’ll would grant that their article was well written, my experience was much less cut and dried than what they describe.
I would be correctly described as a member of that committee with a partisan background. I did not, however, vote in “lockstep” with other members who might also be so categorized. Furthermore I would suggest many of the questions were more nuanced than the authors claimed. Additionally there were members of this committee (including some UW employees and past Regents ) who did not show, nor do I believe they have, strong partisan leanings. Instead their clearly expressed concern was for the future of the system. That was also my concern.
Opinion: UW-Milwaukee would be demoted by plan to split apart Wisconsin university system
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Wisconsin is arguably the most “purple” state in the union, and will likely so remain. I don’t see how dredging up the ghost of Scott Walker and framing this issue as strictly partisan is going to benefit the conversation; nor will it advance legislation or funding.
I think it can safely be said the system will languish if we retreat to our partisan corners and throw bombs at each other. Unfortunately that’s what I think Holahan and Flynn did in this article. From my experience that is not a fair and accurate portrayal of what took place in the committee.
Jerome Lippert, Pittsville
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin not served by college discussion centered on past | Letters