University of Wisconsin-Madison leaders and students urged campus communities to strengthen civil dialogue, protect free expression and adopt a systemwide artificial intelligence vision responsibility at a Board of Regents meeting Thursday.
February 12, 2026
Research
Higher Education/System
Milwaukee Public Schools gets $5 million grant for student mental health
A new $5 million grant is set to bring more mental health professionals to Milwaukee Public Schools.
The U.S. Department of Education awarded MPS the four-year grant to help the district recruit and train school psychologists through partnerships with Alverno College and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Republicans push to restore ACT requirement for UW admissions
Republican lawmakers are advancing a bill to restore the ACT requirement as the “predominant” factor in admission to the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Mnookin champions ‘principled pragmatism’ in final address to regents
In her final appearance before the Board of Regents on Thursday, outgoing University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin delivered a reflective defense of public higher education, urging leaders to hold fast to core values while navigating an era of “profound uncertainty.”
Measles cases spread on college campuses
A student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison also tested positive for measles last week; an update from the university on Friday confirmed that the student was no longer contagious and provided a list of times and places, both on and off campus, “where they may have inadvertently exposed others to measles.” The university called for exposed unvaccinated students to quarantine for three weeks in accordance with local public health guidance.
Agriculture
For years, schools couldn’t offer whole milk. Will they now?
“For schools that were looking for ways to provide cheap and nutritious meals for school children, one of the easiest ways to do that was just to provide milk, even before they were able to provide meals,” explained Andrew Ruis, research scientist in the Wisconsin Center for Education Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of the book “Eating to Learn, Learning to Eat: The Origins of School Lunch in the United States.”
Community
Local efforts promote aging-friendly communities and social connection
Sara Richie, who works to promote aging-friendly communities as the Life Span program manager at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Division of Extension, said it’s important for communities to be inclusive and healthy places for older residents.
“(The community groups) are ensuring that people have an opportunity to lead fulfilling and connected lives and have access to the things that they need to age in place,” Richie said. “They provide an opportunity to celebrate the strengths and contributions of older adults, and have an infrastructure that supports them, and the services to meet their needs as well.”
Arts & Humanities
How Bad Bunny took Puerto Rican independence mainstream
How Bad Bunny became the global voice of a generation in crisis — and what it means when resistance becomes profitable. Includes interview with Jorell Meléndez-Badillo, a professor of Puerto Rican, Caribbean and Latin American History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He’s the author of Puerto Rico: A National History. He is also the author of the history visualizers for Bad Bunny’s DTMF album.
Athletics
From Madison to Miracle: Mark Johnson’s Story 46 Years Later
Forty-six years ago, on an ice rink in Lake Placid, New York, the United States shocked the world.