Diversity in Law School

Nondiscrimination Policy

Federal and state laws provide separate prohibitions against discrimination that is based on race, color, creed, religion, sex, national origin or ancestry, age or disability. State law additionally prohibits discrimination that is based on sexual orientation, arrest or conviction record, marital status, pregnancy, parental status, military status, or veteran status.

Student Organization Contact Information

• QLaw

Student contact:

Jason Foster
E-mail: jdfoster@wisc.edu

Faculty Contact Information

Clinical Professor Meg Gaines
E-mail: mgaines@wisc.edu

Clinical Assistant Professor Sarah Davis
E-mail: sdavis2@wisc.edu

Assistant Professor Stephanie Tai
E-mail: tai2@wisc.edu

Clinical Assistant Professor of Law Leslie Shear
E-mail: ldshear@wisc.edu

Adjunct Professor Ellen Berz
E-mail: berze@opd.wi.gov

Adjunct Professor Stephen Hurley
E-mail: shurley@hbslawfirm.com

Adjunct Professor Rhonda Lanford
E-mail: rlanford@habush.com

Adjunct Professor Mario White
E-mail: cotmariopi@yahoo.com

Administrator Contact Information

No details provided.

Course Titles and/or Descriptions

• Sexual Orientation and the Law—This course will explore how case and statutory law addresses sexual orientation and gender identity across legal disciplines, including criminal law, employment law, family law, equal protection, privacy, military law, and free speech. The course will include consideration of how social, cultural, and political forces shape, and are shaped by, legal doctrine. We will examine how debates around sexual orientation and gender identity have played out in legislative arenas and at the ballot box as well as in court. Like other seminars, the course will require student participation and the free exchange of ideas to be successful.
• Con Law: Politics and Equality—This seminar will focus on the extent to which questions of equality are determined or influenced by political processes such as legislation, initiative processes, or political activism such as demonstrations and advocacy. Have political processes defined the content of equality? Have courts imposed limitations on those political determinations of equality, or do they defer to those determinations? The seminar will focus on politics and equality in three contexts: race/ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation.

Domestic Partnership Benefits

Domestic Partner Benefit Provisions

Provisions within state budget bill 2009 Wisconsin Act 28 permit same sex and opposite sex domestic partners to be treated similarly to spouses for the Wisconsin State Statute § Chapter 40 benefit programs administered by the Employee Trust Fund (ETF).

Chapter 40 benefit programs include the State Group Health Insurance Program, the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS), the Wisconsin Deferred Compensation Program (WDC), State Group Life Insurance and other related programs.

Domestic Partner Benefit Plan Options

• State Group Health Insurance
• Dental and Excess Medical Insurance (EPIC)
• Anthem Dental Insurance
• Vision Insurance
• State Group Life Insurance
• Individual and Family Group Life Insurance
• Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance (AD&D)
• Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS)
• Long Term Care Insurance

Wisconsin Family and Medical Leave Act (WFMLA)

Employees may request WFMLA leave to care for a seriously ill domestic partner or the domestic partner's parents.

Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP)

If a student is eligible for SHIP, he or she can also enroll his or her spouse, domestic partner, or children.

Additional Information

The University of Wisconsin Law School welcomes students from all backgrounds and experiences. Our student organization, QLaw, has a very active role in the Law School and a strong membership. Madison as a whole is a very welcoming place, and its LGBT community is very active and vocal in the greater Madison community.

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