The effects of the federal government’s cuts to UW-Madison’s research are coming into full view: $27 million lost in the last year from terminated or suspended grants.
On this day, Feb. 5, 1849, the first University of Wisconsin-Madison class met under the direction of professor John Sterling. The event is celebrated as Founder’s Day.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison attempted to strike a reassuring tone in the wake of a student contracting measles. While submitting immunization records to UW-Madison is voluntary, the available records indicated 95% of the campus is vaccinated against measles.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison began its three-day Winter Carnival Thursday with outdoor activities on campus.
Outdoor UW hosted a learn-to-skate session on Lake Mendota Thursday afternoon. People of all ages participated in the ice-skating activity.
A UW-Madison student has contracted measles, according to a Feb. 2 email to the campus community. It’s the second case of measles in Wisconsin this year.
After concerns were raised about spending on DEI, the University of Wisconsin-Madison shuttered a department but kept most of the staff and their titles working on equity issues, an investigation by The Center Square found.
The former Division of Diversity, Equity and Education Achievement – which employed about 100 people who earned more than $7 million annually – had been mired in financial mismanagement and attacks from Republicans before the university closed it last year.
An audit found that the university had no grasp of its total diversity spending and whether it was effective, and auditors identified problematic employee bonuses, travel and other expenses in the division.
Health officials confirmed a second measles case in Wisconsin earlier this week — this time in Madison — and one local expert says there’s a reason to be concerned but clear ways to stay safe and healthy.
The Cap Times spoke with Dr. Joseph McBride, an infectious disease specialist at UW Health, after public health officials reported a University of Wisconsin-Madison student contracted measles, likely through international travel, and potentially exposed people on campus.
Tensions rose in discussion over a bipartisan bill that would require state agencies, including the University of Wisconsin System, to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism for any “law, ordinance or policy” when evaluating possible discriminatory intent at a Jan. 28 public hearing.
Daniel Hummel, a research fellow with the History Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an expert on U.S. relations with Israel, said there has been increased “antisemitic rhetoric around campus” since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.
Dane County health officials continue to contact hundreds of people who may have been exposed to measles after a University of Wisconsin–Madison student tested positive for the highly contagious virus.
Public Health Madison & Dane County posted a growing list of exposure locations on its website, including several UW-Madison buildings such as Union South, the Genetics and Psychology buildings, multiple Madison Metro bus routes, Qdoba on Park Street and the Waisman Center.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison Global Health Institute convened experts from around the world with UW-Madison faculty for a Jan. 27 webinar examining the growing complexities of infectious disease control.
The discussion, moderated by Daniel Shirley, an infectious diseases professor at the UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, brought together researchers working across human, animal and global health systems to address two converging crises: antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and declining childhood vaccination rates.
Clint Sprott, a UW-Madison physics professor who retired in 2008, started the show in 1984 as a free, public lecture. He still attends the show every year.
“[My] most favorite is seeing the smiles and enthusiasm of the audience,” Sprott said. “The show was a major part of my life for 40 years, and it is certainly fun to be something of a celebrity.”
Growing up in a first-generation Indian household, Armaan Jain was thrown into activities from a young age — baseball, basketball, soccer and everything but football. The packed schedule forced him to learn time management early, a skill reinforced by parents who deeply valued education and structure.
“From elementary school onward, I had to have systems in place to succeed,” he said. “I learned early that motivation isn’t always there, so you need something that keeps you going anyway.”
Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin’s decision to leave the University of Wisconsin-Madison for Columbia University has drawn mixed reactions from campus, varying from bittersweet goodbyes from campus leaders to celebratory farewells from Badger sports fans, labor leaders and student activists alike
As students return to campus this semester, professors are once again evaluating how artificial intelligence can, and cannot, be a tool for learning in their classrooms.
Despite concerns about generative AI impeding learning, some professors at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are choosing to address and even integrate AI into their course syllabi.
Some students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are gearing up for a collaboration with national brands ahead of the 2026 Super Bowl.
Members of the student a cappella group Fundamentally Sound are getting flown out to San Francisco for a collaboration with the NFL, Marriott Hotels and a secret artist.
Two locations have been added to the list of possible exposure to measles in Madison, Public Health Madison & Dane County announced Tuesday, after the county recorded its first measles case of 2026 Monday.
A UW-Madison student living in an off-campus apartment tested positive for measles, the university said Monday, and 4,000 people who may have been exposed have already been notified.
UW-Madison is seeking approval to increase the budget for its Lakeshore Nature Preserve visitor and research facility by $4.7 million, citing setbacks from higher tariffs and inflation on building materials.
The UW Board of Regents on Friday will consider raising the budget for the Frautschi Center, named after the late UW-Madison alumnus and Madison philanthropist W. Jerome Frautschi, who died Jan. 10.
City staff and consultants are set to recommend the street become a three-lane road with expanded 8-foot sidewalks between Randall and Park Streets following a presentation at a Jan. 26 public meeting. The new traffic configuration would see one lane going in each direction with a central left turn lane.
Jake Baggott, associate vice chancellor & executive director of University Health Services, said UW-Madison has directly notified around 4,000 people who may have been exposed. Speaking to reporters on Monday, Baggott said immunization data voluntarily reported by students shows many are already protected against the virus.
“We estimate, based on our own data, that about 95 percent of our campus is vaccinated against measles, which is a good place to be,” Baggott told reporters.
UW-Madison rose seven positions from 2025, leapfrogging the University of California, Berkeley and the University of California, Los Angeles. The University of Michigan took the top U.S. public university spot
The Wisconsin Alumni Association’s Black Affinity Group launched Black History Month with Legacy and Libations, an event celebrating the Black community in Madison.
This year’s theme, “Taking Flight,” highlighted UW-Madison student projects and alumni-owned businesses. The event featured the SoulFolk Collective, a recently established research department at UW-Madison focused on documenting Madison’s Black community stories through research.
The Epsilon Delta Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. kicked off Black History Month by hosting its 21st Style and Grace Founders Day event.
The event was held at UW-Madison’s Memorial Union on Sunday evening. This year’s theme was Black Female Empowerment.
The award honors PBS Wisconsin’s station-wide culture of innovation – from immersive storytelling and collaborative experimentation to cross-departmental strategies that reimagine how public media can serve, engage and evolve. The award recognized a range of projects that have expanded the organization’s reach, deepened its engagement and sparked new collaborations across platforms, including:
At the top of the list for Wisconsin institutions was the Milwaukee School of Engineering, where median earnings four years out of school topped $93,000.
Coming in at No. 2 was Marquette University, where undergraduates earned nearly $80,000. Bellin College, a private nursing school in Green Bay came in third, with students earning about $79,000.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison ($75,084) and Viterbo University ($70,471) rounded out the top five.
Leaders in Wisconsin agriculture are warning the state’s farmers to brace for another tough year for trade and market conditions.
The discussion at the annual Wisconsin Agricultural Outlook Forum at the University of Wisconsin-Madison focused both on the economic hardships weighing on farmers and what some producers are doing to try to get ahead.
The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty filed a civil rights complaint against the University of Wisconsin Jan. 12 on behalf of the Young America’s Foundation, a student organization on campus that seeks to educate students and promote traditional conservative values, according to YAF.
The current executive director of Saint Louis University’s Chaifetz Center for Entrepreneurship will join the University of Wisconsin-Madison to lead the university’s first entrepreneurship center.
Lewis Sheats will become the Associate Vice Chancellor for Entrepreneurship and the Executive Director of the Wisconsin Entrepreneurship Hub on Feb. 2, a Jan. 20 release announced.
Everyone knows it’s hard to get college students to do the reading—remember books? But the attention-span crisis is not limited to the written word.
Professors are now finding that they can’t even get film students—film students—to sit through movies. “I used to think, If homework is watching a movie, that is the best homework ever,” said Craig Erpelding, a film professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “But students will not do it.”
In addition to the business closings, a student walkout and rally is scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Library Mall, followed by a march and rally at the Capitol at 3:30 p.m.
“I well understand the significant uncertainties and heightened scrutiny many universities are now facing,” Mnookin wrote to members of the Columbia University community. “Moments like this demand, in my view, an urgent assertion of the role universities must play in civic life, a clear articulation of both our value and our values, and, simultaneously, a genuine openness to taking seriously the views of those who see the world differently, both inside our campus and in the broader world.”
Meanwhile, UW System President Jay Rothman plans to name an interim chancellor for UW-Madison before Mnookin departs in May.
In October, Harvard indicated it would significantly reduce the number of new PhD students it admitted. Yale, Columbia, Brown, the University of Southern California, Boston University, and the University of Pennsylvania are examples of schools that also scaled back, rescinded, paused or stopped new admissions. Large public universities — such as the University of Wisconsin, Michigan State University and the University of Washington— took similar steps.
Hundreds gathered in negative windchill in solidarity with the city of Minneapolis and rallied for no Immigration and Customs Enforcement presence on UW’s campus at Library Mall, Jan. 27.
Madison Students for a Democratic Society held the rally in response to the presence of ICE operations across the U.S. and ICE agents killing two Minneapolis residents, according to their Instagram.
Tarah Connolly, a PhD student at UW-Madison, looks at a quilt from the 1870’s that is on display at the “Find Your Quilt” exhibit in the Ruth Davis Design Gallery in Nancy Nicholas Hall at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wis. Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026.
UW-Madison is going ahead with plans to demolish a small building on the west side of campus to create more faculty parking and green space, opening up space for future development.
The UW Board of Regents on Wednesday approved the university’s request to raze the vacant building at 1800 University Ave. to make way for the additional parking spots, about a block west of Breese Terrace.
Wisconsin Republican lawmakers want to limit the University of Wisconsin System’s academic and research collaboration with six countries amid concerns over national security and foreign influence in education.
The bill, which passed the Assembly on Jan. 22, prohibits study abroad, dual degree programs and research collaborations with China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela and Qatar. While there are currently no UW-Madison programs in four of the targeted countries, the university has three study abroad programs in China and one flagship program in Russia.
American Red Cross is hosting “Bucky’s Blood Drive” this week amid a severe blood shortage.
The drive is happening Wednesday and Thursday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Nicholas Recreation Center on University of Wisconsin-Madison’s campus.
Local activist groups and faculty members are calling out the University of Wisconsin Police Department and technology company Flock Safety over eight security cameras they say bring privacy and security concerns to campus.
UWPD — who has access to the data through a contract with Flock Safety — said the cameras aid law enforcement in solving crimes and are not used for “surveillance” of the community like some suspect.
Babcock Dairy’s “Mnookie Dough” ice cream is stocked and ready to be served. At least for now.
The flavor that UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin helped develop, which consists of a vanilla base, with chocolate chip cookie dough pieces, and fudge and caramel swirls, will be available for at least through Mnookin’s tenure, Babcock’s spokesperson Bethany Jones said Tuesday.
Students from UW-Madison filled Library Mall to protest ICE activity across the country and show solidarity with Minneapolis residents on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026 in Madison, Wis. The protest, organized by Students for a Democratic Society Madison, intended to “show the campus, the city, the state, and the Trump administration the students will not allow this to continue unobstructed,” according to the organization’s social media.
Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) will renew calls for university divestment from Israel, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and military operations in Venezuela while remaining civil with the university as the organization returns to campus Jan. 15 following a six-month suspension, a member told The Daily Cardinal.
Hundreds of University of Wisconsin-Madison students braved freezing temperatures Tuesday evening to gather on Library Mall, demanding university leaders declare the campus a sanctuary for immigrant students following recent ICE-related deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
When Jennifer Mnookin joined UW-Madison in 2022 as its chancellor, she faced declining state funding, a decadelong tuition freeze, then campus protests and an onslaught of federal research cuts.
But during her nearly four years in the position, Mnookin built a track record of forging deals with critics of her leadership or the university itself, such as breaking ground on the hard-fought new engineering building, despite frequent opposition from the Republican-led Legislature.
UW-Madison Athletic Director Chris McIntosh considers impacts of a decline in Wisconsin Badgers football season ticket sales for the 2025 season and the significance of that revenue to the university.
Campus and community leaders are congratulating Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin as she prepares to step down as leader of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin and Athletic Director Chris McIntosh consider the performance of and expectations for the Wisconsin Badgers football team in a changing college sports landscape.
UW-Madison has called off classes on Friday due to extreme frigid winter weather — the first time the university has canceled instruction since 2019.
The university canceled lectures, labs and discussion sections, but other campus operations will continue as normal, the university announced Thursday.
our people have been charged in connection with a series of graffiti incidents that caused more than $10,000 in damage across the UW-Madison campus, university police said.
UW-Madison is cancelling classes on Friday due to extreme cold.
Bitterly cold temperatures are expected to begin on Friday and continue into the weekend. An Extreme Cold Warning has been issued for Dane County from midnight to 1 p.m. Friday, with wind chills expected in the range of -30-40 F.
Four people are charged in connection with a series of graffiti incidents that caused thousands of dollars in damage across the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus over the past 18 months.
Through the Senior Guest Auditor Program, Wisconsin residents aged 60 and older take UW-Madison courses free of charge alongside students less than half their age. This fall, the program reached a record enrollment of more than 1,000 auditors, double the number enrolled a decade ago, according to program administrator Anne Niendorf. The program places older adults alongside traditional undergraduates in lecture halls across campus, creating multigenerational classrooms.
The Cinematheque, the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s dedicated screening facility for international cinema history and fine films, returns this week for its 2026 slate — filling a niche since the 1990s by promoting movies audiences in Madison might otherwise miss.
“Sometimes good movies are brought to us through a proposed partnership with another campus department or community organization/concern,” said Jim Healy, Director of Programming at the Cinematheque. “Sometimes some movies are more relevant, like our screening of ‘Slap Shot’ last January in honor of Paul Newman’s centennial.”
Four people have been charged in connection with a series of graffiti incidents that have happened across the UW-Madison campus over the past year and a half, the university’s police department reported Thursday.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison cancelled Friday classes due to freezing weather conditions for the first time since 2019, according to a news release.
The cancellation of all lectures, labs and discussion sections comes after the National Weather Service placed Dane County under an Extreme Cold Warning from midnight to 1 p.m. Friday, with wind chills projected to range from 30 to 40 degrees below zero.
Last year, just as she was finishing a teacher residency program through the University of Wisconsin-Madison, federal funding for the project was cut by the Trump administration.
“So we were in the spring semester and we were all like, are we going to be able to continue?” Lind said. “Are we going to still be able to get our teaching license? Are we going to have to pay this back?”
The University of Wisconsin-Madison canceled classes Jan. 23, though all other campus operations will continue as normal. It marks the 13th weather-related closure for the state flagship since 1965.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison has canceled classes for Friday, January 23, according to a release.
Cold temperatures are expected to start Friday and continue through the weekend.
As the winter weather continues, the University of Wisconsin-Madison welcomes both returning and new students to the spring semester in frigid fashion.
First years this fall enjoyed Wisconsin Welcome events as they learned the campus layout while returning students reacclimated. Returning this winter is no different with a Winter Wisconsin Welcome that not only opens doors for returning students but gives transfers and spring admits opportunities to make connections and meet new people.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison reported nine hazing violations connected to Greek life between 2021 to 2025 after a new federal law required universities and colleges to publicly report hazing incidents.
Under the Stop Campus Hazing Act, universities and colleges were required to begin documenting hazing violations starting July 1, 2025, implement anti-hazing policies and publish their first Campus Hazing Transparency Report by Dec. 23, 2025. UW-Madison went beyond the July requirement by including hazing reports from years prior.
Only the chancellor or someone authorized to act on their behalf has the authority to cancel classes, suspend services or close the campus or any campus building to the public, students and employees.
The university’s general philosophy? Remain open whenever possible.
