Joe Gow firing, DEI fight, demo of old Macy’s with UW-L student, city council rep. Hameister

A lot going on at the Universities of Wisconsin, and UW-La Crosse student Jenasea Hameister joined La Crosse Talk PM on Wednesday to help break it all down, from Joe Gow’s firing over online videos of him having sex with his wife, to DEI being stripped by the state Legislature, plus some things you probably haven’t heard.

Hameister is the managing editor at the UW-L’s Racquet Press and also a La Crosse city council member, representing District 5. Lost in the Gow firing and the DEI “negotiation,” was a fight over D&I at UW-La Crosse, that Hameister helped explain.

La Crosse Talk PM airs weekdays at 5:06 p.m. Listen on the WIZM app, online here, or on 92.3 FM / 1410 AM / 106.7 FM (north of Onalaska). Find all the podcasts here or subscribe to La Crosse Talk PM wherever you get your podcasts.

Before that, however, we began the show chatting about a city council committee decision Tuesday to allow a real estate group to proceed with demolishing the old Macy’s at the Valley View Mall for three “quick serve” restaurants, a car wash and more parking. 

After that, we intertwined the three things going on within the Universities of Wisconsin, including Gow’s firing as chancellor — and his apparent fight for freedom of speech — the UW Board of Regents caving to GOP demands to strip DEI initiatives in a negotiation over already approved raises and building plans that already had bipartisan support and, lastly, Hameister’s story on the Student Association being stripped of its D&I bylaws by UW-L.