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January 15, 2026

Community

Madison families with transgender kids scramble after hospitals halt gender-affirming care

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Wisconsin State Journal

Parents of transgender children in the Madison region are scrambling for alternatives after two of Wisconsin’s largest pediatric hospitals halted gender-affirming care for minors, leaving scarce options in the state.

Madison-based UW Health and Children’s Wisconsin in Milwaukee confirmed this week that they are pausing gender-affirming care for those under 18 years old. The health systems’ decisions follow pressure from U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s announcement on Dec. 18 of new rules and a warning that the federal government could pull funding from hospitals if they offered gender-affirming care to minors.

Who was Amelia Frank, forgotten UW contributor to Nobel Prize winner?

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

John H. Van Vleck, who grew up in Madison and attended and taught physics at the University of Wisconsin, won the Nobel Prize in 1977 for his work on magnetism. In his Nobel lecture, amid a discussion of rare earth elements, one sentence leaps out:

“Miss Frank and I made the relevant calculations.”

Who was Miss Frank? Van Vleck credits her with key work on the quantum mechanics of magnetism, but she is almost absent from the history books.

Athletics

‘The game’s changed’: How Wisconsin football’s strength program is evolving

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Wisconsin State Journal

Brady Collins was on camera next to University of Wisconsin football coach Luke Fickell late in a number of Badgers broadcasts this season.

Collins, the program’s director of strength and conditioning, is one of Fickell’s close friends whose positivity has helped stabilize emotions and the Badgers’ struggles. While Collins tried to keep Fickell’s and players’ eyes looking forward to success around the corner, his mind raced regarding what he and the strength staff could do better.

UW-Madison Related

Conservative students call for investigation into UW-Madison race-based scholarships

Posted on
Channel 3000

Nonprofit conservative law firm Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL) filed a federal complaint against UW-Madison for what it claims are race-based scholarships.

The organization filed the complaint with the U.S. Department of Education under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, claiming UW-Madison operates 22 race-based scholarships for the 2025-2026 academic year that exclude students based on their racial background according to claims by the organization.

Conservative student group files federal civil rights complaint against UW-Madison

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

A national conservative student group has filed a civil rights complaint against UW-Madison, asking the U.S. Department of Education to investigate the university’s use of race-based scholarships.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, on behalf of its client Young America’s Foundation, filed the complaint on Monday with the U.S. Office for Civil Rights, alleging UW-Madison is offering at least 22 illegal race-based scholarships during the current school year.