The Special Committee to Investigate Allegations of Racial Discrimination at University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse
(UW-L) of 1982-1983 was formed in October 1982 following a recommendation by the UW-L Student and Faculty Senates.
The committee was created in response to the controversy over the selection of the homecoming court and which led
to the eventual resignations of Dr. Lockett, Directory of Minority Affairs, and Ms. Jackson, Program Assistant.
Three members of the committee were recommended by the Student Senate, three by the Faculty Senate, and three by the
Chancellor. The Chancellor gave the Committee three tasks: to investigate the allegations of racial discrimination,
to study the university’s response to such allegations, and to make recommendations for improving relations on campus.
After the Special Committee contacted the Office of Education Civil Rights Division, two investigations were conducted
to look at specific complaints brought to the OCR concerning race discrimination. The conclusions and recommendations of
the Special Committee’s final report were unanimously passed by the Committee and the Faculty Senate and by the Student
Senate with two dissenting votes.
The recommendations for campus leaders and organizations were addressed three years later within the UW-L’s Minority Affairs
Committee’s 1985 report. This report provides a summary of the responses to a survey that assesses the progress made on campus
in regards to the problems and recommendations articulated in the Special Committee’s final report.
