When two students recorded their first rap song together, they wanted to have fun with a cultural icon unique to the University of Wisconsin-Madison: the coastie. The term is widely used here to describe out-of-state students who tend to wear certain clothes, come from wealthier families and live in more expensive private dormitories. They are teased by “sconnies,” the Wisconsin kids who make up a majority of the student body. The “Coastie Song” has launched the music careers of students Quincy Harrison and Cliff Grefe, itâ??s also raised complaints of anti-Semitism, shed more light on a cultural divide among students and renewed complaints about a long-standing housing policy.
Office of Strategic Communication