The University of Wisconsin-Madison was surrounded in controversy after releasing a homecoming video made up of primarily white students. The homecoming committee deleted the video following controversy which stemmed from “underrepresented populations” referred to in the video never being displayed, according to NBC News.
University of Wisconsin-Madison’s homecoming committee has since apologized for the video.
“To promote student homecoming, we recently produced a video called ‘Home is where Wi Are,’ and we invited various student groups to participate in the video,” the committee said in a statement. “Unfortunately, not all the video images produced were included in the final product, including those of students from underrepresented populations.”
According to some students, including senior Payton Wade, shared some disappoint on social media. Wade said that her and other members of her historically black sorority were interviewed for an hour and asked to be a part of the video, but their interviews were ultimately cut from the video. Wade discussed her view of the situation in a post on Facebook.
“Being Black at this school is a daily struggle both mentally and physically,” she wrote. “It is hard to have pride for a school where you know you are not wanted and where they obviously do not consider this our home as well.”
The university also issued an apology on the official school website.
“We know that, both historically and today, students of color and other under-represented groups do not feel as welcome on our campus as majority students,” the university said. “As a community, we must commit to and invest in ways to change this.
“The student committee took down the video after the concerns were raised and the committee and the association have apologized. We, too, are sorry for the pain this has caused. We also understand the need for action on these issues and will be engaging with students about the work that we need to do as a campus community.”
The University of Wisconsin-Madison student body is 70 percent white as of the 2018 Fall semester.