Francene L. Botts-Butler
Francene L. Botts-Butler has been named director of the Office of Equity/Diversity Services (EDS) at UWM. She started at the university this summer, coming to UWM from Morehead State University in Kentucky, where she directed multicultural student services. The goal of the EDS office is to monitor, manage and integrate equal opportunity and diversity into the university climate, making it a good fit with her legal background and interests, says Botts-Butler. A native of Kentucky, she made the move north for a variety of reasons.
“I was looking for a new opportunity and new challenges and getting back into my first passion, which was working with compliance and affirmative action. It was a chance to use those talents.”
Botts-Butler earned her law degree from the University of Kentucky. She has a B.S. in political science and English from Kentucky State University and a master’s degree with an emphasis in public law from Bowling Green State University in Ohio. She also served in the U.S. Army’s Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps.
Her interest in the law and issues related to discrimination began in childhood, says Botts-Butler. “My mom always said I liked to talk and I liked to argue so she thought I’d make a good lawyer.” A relative encouraged Botts-Butler’s interest in reading by introducing her to the Perry Mason mysteries. That further fueled her interest in the English language and the law.
Her mother was an inspiration to activism, adds Botts-Butler. “My mother was involved in the Civil Rights movement. I remember her walking down Main Street in Lexington [Kentucky] to integrate a restaurant.”
Her parents raised nine children, including two sets of twins, and encouraged all of them to follow their dreams, she recalls, in a time and place where that wasn’t always easy for young African Americans.
Growing up and going to college in Kentucky – “the northernmost of the southern states and the southernmost of the northern states” – gave Botts-Butler insights into the ways subtle and not-so-subtle that discrimination can impact everyday life.
Seeing how insurers “redlined” certain neighborhoods, how discrimination shaped jury selection, and knowing that landlords in college towns were reluctant to rent to her because of her race, all shaped her and her career, she says. “Kentucky has a history, but it’s one of the factors that has made me what I am.”
A major focus of her job here, says Botts-Butler, will be assuring that UWM complies with federal and state laws that prevent discrimination. The office also assists in investigating and resolving complaints, and educating faculty and staff about how to comply with laws ranging from the Americans with Disabilities Act to Title IX.
In fact, says Botts-Butler, one of her first major projects will be examining how UWM is complying with Title IX, the federal law that provides for equity, not just in university athletics, but in all educational programs and activities.
The EDS office also investigates a wide variety of concerns and complaints related to racial discrimination, sexual harassment, cyber-bullying and other behaviors that impact the university’s ability to provide a welcoming climate for all. The EDS office works closely with Legal Affairs and the Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Climate.
Botts Butler is interested in improving links between UWM and the community to build better relationships, particularly with the African American, Latino/a and Southeast Asian communities here.
While UWM is the most diverse campus in the UW System, there is still work to be done, not just on the compliance and legal side, but in convincing those communities that UWM is a good place for them, says Botts-Butler. “It’s 2011, but I still hear students say ‘I’ve never been in class with an African American, Hmong or Spanish student.”