Former DEI staffer sues University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire for anti-white discrimination
Rochelle Hoffman, a demoted DEI staffer at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, has alleged that the school discriminated against her for being white in a recent lawsuit.
UW-Eau Claire students, faculty, and staff allegedly pressured her to resign because they 'didn’t want a white woman in charge,' according to the lawsuit.
Rochelle Hoffman, a demoted DEI staffer at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, has alleged that the school discriminated against her for being white in a recent lawsuit.
Despite having the longest “outstanding” record of service toward minority students, UW-Eau Claire students, faculty, and staff allegedly pressured her to resign because they “didn’t want a white woman in charge,” according to the lawsuit.
The document also claims that when Hoffman tried to fight back, the school’s Office of Affirmative Action suggested she give up or suffer “career damage.”
Hoffman, a former assistant director of the Office of Multicultural Student Services (MSS) who is now listed as a senior academic advising coordinator, filed a lawsuit on Dec. 14, claiming that the University of Wisconsin System, UW-Eau Claire’s chancellor, and the director of affirmative action violated her 14th Amendment rights through racial discrimination.
UW-Eau Claire’s vice chancellor appointed Hoffman as interim director of MSS and then Assistant Director of MSS based on her merit. She was “outstanding” in creating programs and classes that improved “retention, grade point averages, and graduation rates” for “students of color and for low-income and first-generation college students,” according to the lawsuit.
Yet, over 10 months, Hoffman alleges that she faced severe pressure from students, faculty, and staff to resign her position because of her skin color.
During multiple open houses from February to May 2022, UW-Eau Claire community members voiced that they “didn’t want white people overseeing spaces intended to serve students of color” and that they “didn’t want a white woman in charge of the office,” as the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit also notes that faculty members were concerned about the “optics” of white people replacing people of color, in reference to Hoffman’s appointment to assistant director of MSS.
UW-Eau Claire’s student senate eventually adopted a resolution titled, “In Condemnation of the Office of Multicultural Affairs and Blugold Beginnings Merger,” where they explicitly condemned “placing white-identifying individuals in positions of interim leadership for major EDI offices.”
Despite acknowledging that “exclusively hiring people of color” is an issue “from a human resources perspective,” the student senate still recommended “the inclusion of ‘ability to sympathize and connect to students of specific racial and ethnic identities’ within job descriptions.”
In June 2022, the Office of Affirmative Action allegedly moved Hoffman from the Office of Multicultural Student Services without her approval. The office received an anonymous complaint stating that “Hoffman’s presence made the complainant feel uncomfortable and that it was hard for her to speak openly in a space made for her,” according to the 20-page lawsuit.
The Office of Affirmative Action cited “a hostile work environment” as the reason for removing her from MSS.
In July 2022, Hoffman says she filed a complaint alleging racial discrimination, only for the human resources manager to suggest she should drop or hold from filing the complaint because of potential career damage.
Hoffman decided to pursue the investigation and alleges she found herself a victim of the school’s retaliation against her efforts. Just a few days before the fall semester’s start, she was removed from teaching all MSS courses, including a class she had taught for four years.
Michael Knuth, UW-Eau Claire’s Director of Communications, told Campus Reform that the school will not offer a statement on pending litigation.
“As is the case with all pending litigation, UW-Eau Claire will not offer a statement or comment on the lawsuit,” he said. “UW-Eau Claire does not discriminate based on race in any employment decisions.”
Campus Reform has contacted Hoffman and the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire for comment. This article will be updated accordingly
