JANESVILLE, Wis.

Blackhawk Technical College employs a diversity specialist and hosts an annual Diversity Week to help make minority students feel welcome.

But a recent advertisement sent to local homes may have unintentionally undercut its efforts.

The cover of the magazine-style publication featured a photograph of two smiling adults and two children under the following headline: “A Family Affair: BTC is the perfect fit for the White family.”

Most people may have understood the article was about a family named White. But some read it as an assertion the college was particularly good for White people.

Bob Baldwin, a diversity specialist for the Janesville School District, who is Black, said most Black people would have a problem with the wording.

“That’s kind of a natural thing — when you’re White, you don’t think about these things,” Baldwin said. “And people need to start thinking about these things beyond their own comfort level — you know, what about the other folks?”

But Blackhawk Technical College board member Kevin Leavy, a Black businessman who sits on the Beloit City Council, said he didn’t think anyone intended any harm.

College president Eric Larson said he didn’t think of the double meaning before the advertisement was published. But the college received some complaints afterward, he said.

“Most of them wanted to make us aware of the fact that it could be taken to be a racist comment,” said Len Walker, the college’s director of institutional advancement, who was in charge of the advertisement.

The college changed the headline in a version on its Web site: “BTC is the perfect fit for the James and Casey White family.”

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University Opposes Affirmative Action Ban

LINCOLN, Neb.

A proposed ban on schools and other government groups using race, gender and other factors in their hiring and admission decisions is being opposed by the University of Nebraska.