UW-Eau Claire employee files complaint alleging racial discrimination because she’s white

A University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire employee has filed a racial discrimination complaint that alleges she was harassed and demoted because she is white.

The complaint follows the firing of a former vice chancellor for equity, diversity, inclusion who alleges students and employees of color were opposed to white individuals having leadership roles in the campus’s multicultural affairs office.

The complaint by Rochelle Hoffman, who works in UW-Eau Claire’s student support services division, alleges she faced racial hostility and an abusive work environment after being appointed as an interim director of the campus’s newly formed office of Multicultural Student Services, or MSS. Hoffman filed the complaint with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development’s Equal Rights Division after a university investigation did not find supporting evidence for her claims.

Hoffman claims staff and students attending open houses aimed at explaining a merger of two university programs then known as Blugold Beginnings and the Office of Multicultural Affairs stated they didn’t want any “white identifying” individuals holding leadership positions in the new office. The merger was controversial with some students, who felt that it would reduce on-campus services for people of color.

“During these events, many UWEC students and staff made clear they opposed appointing any ‘white-identifying’ individuals to positions of responsibility within the MSS office,” the complaint said.

Hoffman claims the open houses were “extremely hostile” for her, in part because she was the only white person in a room of around 50 students and staff.

“And their message was very clear: She was not welcome because of her race,” the complaint alleges. “It was offensive and intimidating.”

Hoffman’s complaint was announced by the law offices of Fox and Fox, S.C., which has offices in Madison, Milwaukee and Chicago. It was filed with the State of Wisconsin Equal Rights Division within the Department of Workforce Development.

Communications staff with UW-Eau Claire declined to comment on human resources matters. Hoffman referred a request for comment to her attorney.

Hoffman first filed an Affirmative Action complaint which was reviewed by third-party investigators this fall. An investigative report issued by the UW System Office of Compliance and Integrity on Oct. 26 was obtained by Wisconsin Public Radio through a state open records request.

In that complaint, too, Hoffman said the intimidation she faced was so severe that she had to relinquish a promotion as interim director of MSS. She claims that resulted in a “demotion” based on her race.

The UW System investigation disagreed with that claim.

“Hoffman said that she received a demotion from Assistant Director to Student Affairs Program Specialist,” the report said. “However, Hoffman was never officially in the title of Assistant Director. Perhaps (former UW-Eau Claire Vice Chancellor of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and Student Affairs Olga) Diaz told Hoffman that she was an Assistant Director, but Diaz never initiated nor requested this change through HR, which would have needed additional approvals beyond Diaz to take place.”

The investigators also disagreed with Hoffman’s claim that a letter from faculty objecting to the merger that led to the creation of MSS and comments from students at open houses were akin to discrimination.

“None of Hoffman’s examples provide evidence of a pattern of discrimination,” the report said. “The letter, which Hoffman alleges targeted her, discussed overarching concerns regarding staff of color and retention issues, and inclusion of governance and student voices. There is no mention of Hoffman, nor her position, and no mention of excluding individuals from the office staff makeup because of their race.”

UW System spokesperson Mark Pitch said the “independent investigative report speaks for itself.”

Diaz, who was fired by UW-Eau Claire on in November, told WPR she disagrees with the system’s findings. She said there are some faculty members and students who were strongly opposed to the merger, and they targeted her and Hoffman as a result.

Diaz said she chose Hoffman for promotion because she was the longest-serving, most capable employee within the division.

“She took a lot of heat just for her whiteness, which is equally as bad as if somebody of color had been put in that role and taken heat for their race,” Diaz said.

Diaz points to a student senate resolution from February as proof of opposition on campus to white leadership within the MSS office. The resolution strongly opposed the elimination of Blugold Beginnings, a program aimed at recruiting underrepresented, low income or first generation college students, and the Office of Multicultural Affairs. It also mentions that a coalition of students “expressed concerns over placing white-identifying individuals in positions of interim leadership for major EDI offices.”

Diaz said none of the services of the former offices were eliminated, but amid the controversy including the letter and a student senate resolution, she was offered a severance from UW-Eau Claire Chancellor Jim Schmidt in exchange for her resignation. Diaz refused and was fired Nov. 3.

“Basically, it’s the cancel culture and shut you down and get rid of you the minute they don’t agree with you, right?” Diaz said. “That toxicity needs to be addressed.”

Diaz wrote a letter to the editor in The Eau Claire Leader Telegram Oct. 27 in which she claimed Schmidt fired her in retaliation. She said the merger also “exposed the underpinnings of racism at UWEC.” In particular, Diaz was referring to areas she said faculty and staff supported “safe spaces” where students of color could “be safe from ‘oppression’ by excluding all white people.”

Rossellin Gaitan is UW-Eau Claire’s student body president. She identifies as Latinx, and has worked with Hoffman and Diaz in the past. She told WPR Hoffman’s race wasn’t the reason for student objections. Instead, she said students felt they weren’t being listened to by Hoffman and Diaz during the merger. She said Hoffman showed favoritism to some individuals, didn’t respect boundaries between students and advisors and was hard to reach by email.

“I think the biggest thing to me that is the most infuriating is that Rochelle is saying that she is experiencing racism,” Gaitan said. “I’m sorry, Rochelle, but reverse racism does not work like that.”

Gaitan said there’s nothing wrong with students of color who are attending a predominantly white institution wanting to gather with others from similar backgrounds. She said the claim that white students were not allowed is untrue.

She also said the merger of the organizations was stressful for students, and comments from Diaz since leaving the college have been retraumatizing for many.

“And I really hope she recognizes that,” Gaitan said. “I hope that whatever she’s doing, that she sees it, that it’s worth it.”