Former U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl’s foundation is donating $30 million to UW-Madison’s La Follette School of Public Affairs to modernize Music Hall, which will be renamed Herb Kohl Hall in honor of the late politician and businessman.
After experiencing increased demand in recent years, organizers of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s student food pantry are asking campus leaders for help.
Readers most likely have encountered the Friends of the UW-Madison Libraries by attending their semi-annual book sales that bring in some $60,000 a year. The friends group has used the proceeds in various ways, including supporting speakers and making grants to visiting scholars using special and often unique material in the UW’s and State Historical Society’s libraries and archives.
Sigma Alpha Epsilon at UW-Madison has canceled its massive annual fundraiser party on frozen Lake Mendota scheduled for this weekend after the university set rules around the event the fraternity says are unattainable.
The Madison Water Utility oversees the 21 wells that service the City of Madison, including the University of Wisconsin campus, according to Grande. They closely monitor a wide variety of regulated contaminants, like volatile organic compounds, pesticides, inorganic compounds, bacterial contaminations and PFAS, according to Grande.
Music educator and violinist Zeynep Alpan believes music is more than entertainment — it teaches “life.”
Alpan, who works on music education programming with the New York Philharmonic and Lincoln Center, is the co-founder of Global Impact Musician (GIM), a nonprofit based in New York and partnered with the University of Wisconsin-Madison that works with young professional musicians in East Africa.
The University of Wisconsin College of Engineering is set to debut its new Aerospace Engineering major this fall after the UW System Board of Regents voted on its approval Feb. 5, according to a College of Engineering press release.
Eric Wilcots, dean of UW-Madison’s College of Letters and Science, will serve as interim chancellor, the Universities of Wisconsin has announced.
Wilcot replaces Jennifer Mnookin, who is taking over as president of Columbia University in New York City.
Here’s what to know about Wilcots.
UW-Madison students now will be required to report their vaccination status to the university, campus officials said Thursday.
The mandate comes after UW-Madison announced earlier this month that a student living in an off-campus apartment tested positive for measles. University and Dane County officials said at least 4,000 people were exposed.
UW-Madison has announced it will now require students to share their vaccination status for multiple diseases, including measles.
The policy change comes after a measles case in a UW-Madison student, which was reported in early February. The student visited several locations on and off campus while contagious, and university officials had to notify about 4,000 people who may have been exposed.
The Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball team gathered tonight for a meaningful celebration of resilience, faith, and community as they attended a premiere.
The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents approved new policies that would cautiously ease access for political campaigning in residence halls in their February meeting by allowing greater door-to-door campaigning.
Students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison will now be required to disclose their vaccination status to the university under a new policy introduced Thursday.
After experiencing increased demand in recent years, organizers of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s student food pantry are asking campus leaders for help.
The Open Seat Food Pantry is run by eight part-time student employees who distribute over 32,000 pounds of food to hundreds of students each month.
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.
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.”
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.
The Universities of Wisconsin has named a temporary successor for UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin.
College of Letters and Science Dean Eric Wilcots will serve as interim chancellor starting May 17 as Mnookin begins her departure to lead Columbia University, UW system President Jay Rothman announced Wednesday.
Tyler Hagen is a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who celebrated his 21st birthday while at college and away from his home in San Diego.
He said having someone like Morgan work alongside his mom to make his milestone birthday memorable was important to him.
Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity will cancel Lily’s Classic, its annual fundraiser and social event on the frozen Lake Mendota, this year after the University of Wisconsin-Madison imposed expectations fraternity leadership said they were not comfortable with.
The event will transition from the traditional philanthropy boot hockey tournament to a private social event after multiple rounds of negotiations with university officials, Harrison Long, SAE’s philanthropy chair, told The Daily Cardinal. He said the fraternity “doesn’t want to be liable” for issues on the ice.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison hosted a stop on a traveling euchre competition, bringing players together to celebrate the popular Midwest card game.
Campus winners received $1,000 in scholarship funds and will advance to regional competition for a chance to qualify for the 2026 World Euchre Championship in New Glarus, Wisconsin.
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison discussed ethical concerns stemming from the rise of generative artificial intelligence in academia and research at a Jan. 30 panel.
The panel, which included experts from the UW-Madison Data Science Institute, Libraries and Institutional Review Boards Office (IRB), provided recommendations for researchers, offering definitions and opportunities for ethical AI use in research.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison is celebrating Badgers competing on the international stage with a Winter Olympics watch event on Tuesday, Feb. 10.
The University of Wisconsin–Madison recently held its Winter Carnival on Saturday, a cherished campus tradition organized by Hoofer clubs.
The event featured Rail Jam, a freestyle skiing and snowboarding competition that attracted large crowds of competitors and spectators. Dave Elsmo, director for Outdoor UW, highlighted the event’s deep roots and organization.
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.
