Many students and alums took part in the kick-off event. For Dave Arneson, Wednesday’s celebration created a memorable moment. Arneson played football for the Badgers as a tight end back from 1982 through 1984.
Category: Campus life
Newest Bucky on Parade statue offers an abstract take on UW-Madison’s 175 years
The statue, named “Honor the Air, Land and Water,” was unveiled Wednesday at Memorial Union to mark UW-Madison’s 175th anniversary. The 6-foot-tall badger is meant to represent the university’s past, present and future.
UW-Madison Celebrates 175 Years
Tomorrow is University of Wisconsin-Madison’s demisemiseptcentennial anniversary as the University of Wisconsin System’s flagship campus celebrates its 175th anniversary. To honor the milestone, the university will be holding a free celebration with music, fireworks, and of course, free ice cream.
Madison’s mental health crisis team can’t keep up with its own success
University Health Services in fall 2020 started its own mental health response team called the co-responder program. The University Police Department contacts Health Services for calls related to mental health, and the team will send two counselors to join UW officers at the scene.
Sarah Nolan, director of UW Mental Health Services, said that program has made a big difference on campus but is challenged by limited hours of service: from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Exclusive first look: Newest ‘Bucky’ statue reflects on time, community
The latest statue, called “Honor the air, land and water,” will be on public display at Memorial Union Wednesday night.
Climate activists push UW-Madison to include sustainability in redevelopment plan
350 Wisconsin, the state branch of a national organization focused on steering mankind away from the worst impacts of climate change, has rallied its members and elected officials in recent weeks. The call: push UW-Madison to explicitly include sustainable building practices in its final version the West Campus District Plan.
From UW’s Carillon Tower, Lyle Anderson has filled the campus with music for decades
Over the decades, a Sunday afternoon stroll through the UW-Madison campus has been marked by bells playing the sonorous melodies of “On, Wisconsin,” “University Hymn” and other musical pieces.
People of UW: District 8 Alder and UW student MGR Govindarajan shares importance of getting involved
Editor’s note: People of UW is a human interest series produced by features editors and associates. The series — published online and on our social media accounts — aims to highlight a student at the University of Wisconsin making an impact on the campus community. These Q&As are lightly edited for clarity and style.
Reparations push gains steam as communities nationwide consider payment plans — and not just for slavery
The University of California system, for example, has pledged to give free tuition to some Native American students amid a movement to reclaim tribal lands. The University of Wisconsin at Madison flew the flag of the Ho-Chunk Nation on campus for the first time in 2021 in an effort to acknowledge land taken from the tribe. And Cornell University launched a research project to account for all the land that it took from Native communities.
2 Republican bills would ban transgender women and girls from competing in female sports
Wisconsin Republicans released two proposals Wednesday that would ban transgender girls and women from participating in female sports at every grade level and in college.
The bills, authored by Republican Rep. Barbara Dittrich of Oconomowoc and Sen. Dan Knodl of Germantown, would bar male and transgender female students attending publicly-funded K-12 schools, University of Wisconsin System campuses and state technical colleges from competing in sports designated for females.
Madison tweaking Metro Transit system to address concerns, challenges
The main complaints about UW Hospital service are being addressed with fixes planned for August, Rusch said. “Some of the concerns people have are because they are still learning how the new system works, and it’s a bit different from what they’re accustomed to,” said Dar Ward, commuter solutions manager for UW-Madison Transportation Services. “It appears Metro Transit’s proposed service adjustments are directed at addressing the complaints.”
93% of Wisconsin is in a drought; Madison in extreme drought
Meanwhile at UW-Madison, groundskeeping staff are continuing to water key campus locations, such as the fields along Lake Mendota and the lawns in front of the Kohl Center and Gordon Commons. Other less-frequented sites on campus are watered to keep vegetation alive but not necessarily green, to minimize water use, said Greg Bump, a UW-Madison spokesperson.
Colleges assess financial aid criteria after affirmative action ruling
Chancellor Jennifer L. Mnookin at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, the state’s flagship campus, said in a statement after the ruling that the school had increased its underrepresented undergraduate student population by about 50 percent over the last five years, but still lagged many of their peers. They would need to change admissions policies to comply with the law. “At the same time, I want to reiterate that our commitment to the value of diversity within our community, including racial diversity, remains a bedrock value of the institution.”
Admissions and financial aid, recruitment and retention and support of students, are so intertwined at colleges that it’s natural that people are asking questions after the Supreme Court ruling, said Nicholas Hillman, a professor in the School of Education at UW-Madison.
Native American groups join the call for reparations and target colleges who took land from tribes
In 2021, the University of Wisconsin at Madison displayed the flag of the Ho-Chunk Nation on campus to acknowledge the land taken from the tribe.
Chancellor Mnookin selects ‘How Minds Change’ as 2023-24 Go Big Read book
’This timely book gives us all an opportunity to challenge our own beliefs and assumptions, and to recognize the importance of empathetic listening,’ Chancellor Mnookin says.
UW-Madison alum returns sunburst chair she stole in 1992
For one UW-Madison alum, the return of a chair has absolved 31 years of guilt.
‘Falcon Lake’ conjures the ghosts of summer romance
The Madison premiere of “Falcon Lake” kicks off the UW Cinematheque summer series at 7 p.m. Wednesday at 4070 Vilas Hall, 821 University Ave. The screening is free, and seating is first-come, first-serve.
Explore Madison lakes with sailing this season
Madison is a city surrounded by lakes and since 1939 the Hoofer Sailing Club has been a guide for everyone from beginners to advanced sailors to learn and teach.
‘It is kind of a very rigorous job’: Applications now closed for UW professional cheese taster
Applications have just closed for a new cheese taster at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center for Dairy Research.
UW-Madison unveils plan to revitalize western portion of campus
The West Campus District Plan calls for a hotel, amenity spaces, affordable housing, and research spaces to be added.
UW-Madison’s updated West Campus plan prioritizes housing, research space
Revised concept plans for UW-Madison’s underutilized West Campus will emphasize residential and research spaces while also bringing in a hotel, either by renovating the hulking Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation building or by replacing it.
Unofficial pay-to-join Facebook groups target anxious freshmen
“UW-Madison is aware of non-sanctioned Facebook groups, such as the one you flagged,” a spokesperson wrote in an email. “When these come to our attention, we first attempt to message the group moderator, and then file terms of service complaints to ensure that the groups are clearly marked as unaffiliated and do not use university logos or marks. In general, we suggest that students and parents follow official UW-Madison Facebook accounts for the most accurate and up to date information.”
Rainbow Terrace chairs return to Memorial Union next week
Chairs in colors not normally placed on the Terrace, such as blue and yellow, will be arranged alongside the other colorful, sunburst chairs near the front steps of the Memorial Union from 2-5 p.m. on June 21.
UW System hires new chief diversity officer amid GOP pushback against campus DEI offices
A new chief diversity officer hired by the University of Wisconsin System will start just weeks after Assembly Speaker Robin Vos called for eliminating DEI staff at the state’s 13 universities.
Want to be a cheese and pizza taster? UW-Madison has the job for you.
This might be the most Wisconsin-y job yet — sorry, Culver’s and Kwik Trip employees.
The Center for Dairy Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is looking to hire people “passionate about all types of foods, but especially cheese, pizza and other dairy products,” according to the job posting.
UW-Madison’s Center for Campus History to open July 1
According to Public History Project Director Kacie Lucchini Butcher, an initial center staff meeting was held on May 24 to discuss months of listening sessions across campus.
In days, here comes one of Metro Transit’s biggest changes ever
UW-Madison students may see small differences in service, but because the campus already gets high levels of service the impacts will be limited, officials said.
UW-Madison Who Threatened to Make N-Words Pick Cotton Speaks Up
“To the University of Wisconsin–Madison student body, faculty and community, I sincerely apologize for the harmful actions and comments I made towards African American individuals. My words were utterly disgusting and unacceptable, whether in public or private,” Audrey Godlewski wrote in an email to The Daily Cardinal.
Dr. Rev. Alex Gee honored with Luminary Award from the Wisconsin Alumni Association
Dr. Rev. Alex Gee and his family all together hold 13 degrees from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Now, Gee has been named of the 15 UW-Madison graduates honored with 2023 alumni awards from the Wisconsin Alumni Association.
UW-Madison graduates reflect on the pandemic, their college experience
For many recent University of Wisconsin-Madison graduates, the 2022-23 academic year was considered the only “normal” year of their college journey. Following the commencement ceremony on May 13, recent graduates reflected on how COVID-19 impacted their college experience.
UW-Madison to debut American Sign Language program
The Language Sciences department will offer ASL courses for the first time in university history.
UW-Madison student apologizes for racist social media video, calling comments ‘completely inexcusable’
The University of Wisconsin-Madison student at the center of a racist social media video that caused outrage and protests on campus last month came forward Monday to apologize for her comments.
Student who made racist comments in video that sparked protest issues apology to newspaper
Audrey Godlewski, the UW-Madison student seen in a social media video making racist comments about Black people — wishing for a return to slavery, among other harmful remarks — has issued an apology through The Daily Cardinal student newspaper.
Here’s what Wisconsin has planned for a new football indoor practice facility
The University of Wisconsin athletic department is assembling a team to design and build the next change to the landscape in and around Camp Randall Stadium.
Four years that defined a generation: Wisconsin graduates reflect on the pandemic, social justice and mental health challenges
They were freshmen in high school and college trying to figure out how the world worked, when suddenly the world stopped working.
COVID-19 was a generation-defining disaster. Schools shut down. Lives were lost. Learning was, too. College students traded their dorm rooms for doomscrolling, their socializing at parties for social distancing. High schoolers were reduced to suffocating squares on Zoom; college students dealt with professors they never met.
UW economics department responds to sexual misconduct concerns with actionable plan
The University of Wisconsin Department of Economics released a memo to UW economics graduate students May 18 containing a substantial plan to address concerns from many about sexual misconduct within the department.
It’s time to save dates for Cap Times Idea Fest and hear some details
The first of the major-stage sessions at this year’s festival will be Tuesday night, Sept. 19, in Shannon Hall, the largest theater in the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Memorial Union.
UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin will talk about current conversations around speech on campus and, importantly, where she thinks that discussion will be many years from now.
From heavy hand of government to speaker shout downs, free speech in peril on campuses
Written by Kevin P. Reilly, president emeritus of the University of Wisconsin system.
‘Funemployment’ and the Gen Z Job Market
But Gen Z won’t find happiness getting high in Ibiza, scrolling on TikTok or sleeping till noon. True work-life balance is important, and lasting happiness is achieved by working incrementally toward valuable, fulfilling goals—not in indulging the fleeting pleasures of “funemployment.”—Anika Horowitz, University of Wisconsin-Madison, economics
Two years ago, back-to-back attacks rattled an Orthodox Jewish family. Now, they reflect on their place in Milwaukee.
Noted: Meira didn’t want to just accept it, though. The incidents drove her to get involved with Jewish organizations fighting antisemitism on campus. First at UW-Milwaukee, now at UW-Madison, she works with students and university administrators to raise awareness about Jewish issues.
Changes to federal financial aid formula would make college more costly for some Wisconsin farm families
Emma Vos spent much of her childhood feeding calves and milking cows on her family’s 120-herd dairy farm. Now, she’s a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin-Madison studying agriculture business management with plans to run the family farm in Maribel, just south of Green Bay, after graduation.
Wisconsin Union Terrace summer movie series starts Monday
The Monday night movie tradition at the Memorial Union Terrace is coming back this summer, with an added twist.
Bus rapid transit construction underway, to be completed next summer
Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway has made bus rapid transit a pillar of her platform during her tenure in office. The city broke ground on the east-to-west route in December which will run along East Washington Avenue through the city’s center and the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus and end at West Towne Mall.
Chazen’s latest exhibit ‘re:mancipation’ uses art to reinterpret problematic works
A collaborative project to reinterpret and reimagine problematic works of art has culminated into a months-long exhibit at the Chazen Museum of Art. We speak to Sanford Biggers, the lead of “re:mancipation.”
On campus, preparing for mass shootings is part of police training and student life
It’s eerily quiet in the vacant Biotron Laboratory building on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. It’s been closed for two years, but various pieces of office equipment are still scattered throughout offices and what were once state-of-the-art, climate-controlled research labs sealed with thick metal doors. That silence is about to be shattered by the UW Police Department’s annual Active Killer Training.
Colleges Acted on Demands to Rein In Their Police. Then They Backtracked.
Kristen Roman, police chief at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and the director at large of the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators, said activism on her campus has been more prominent in the last three years she has been on the job than in her first three years.
UW-Madison graduates largest class in its history with 7,826 degrees conferred
Coumbe Gitter, who got her degree in biochemistry with an environmental science minor, graduated in good company outside of her own family tree — Saturday’s ceremony was the largest commencement in UW-Madison history, with 7,826 degrees conferred, according to UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin.
UW Madison’s move out and graduation makes for a busy downtown
“A lot of graduates earlier, everyone was coming here before they went off to the Kohl Center or their other graduation locations,” Jadon Sommer, Front of House Manager and Events Coordinator for the Nitty Gritty said. “We do have a lot of people coming in after. We have probably around 100 people in the books at least coming in for reservations.”
UW grads share their future plans
It was a bittersweet day as University of Wisconsin-Madison graduates said farewell to the school many of them spent the past four years attending, sharing future plans after commencement. “Travelling, saving money, breathing, finding a hobby,” said Yunee Lo, who plans to take a gap year post graduation.
UW-Madison holds largest commencement ceremony in university’s history
According to UW, Mercy earned a bachelor’s in social work 19 years after beginning classes at UW-Madison. She said she was unable to complete her freshman year at UW in 2004 because of a lack of financial aid. She returned in 2020, winning one of the most prestigious undergraduate awards on campus. Saturday, she said she considers her daughters equal partners in her achievements.
University of Wisconsin marks record-setting commencement
Former U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. delivered the keynote address at the ceremony. Holder was named by the Time Magazine in 2014 as one of their 100 Most Influential People. “The Senior Class Office was drawn to Attorney General Holder’s leadership and legacy,” says Liam McLean, senior class president. “Attorney General Holder is a trailblazer whose drive for excellence and humanity as a public servant aligns perfectly with our values as a university to shape a better world than the one we found.”
UW-Madison class of 2023 urged to ‘do good’ at Camp Randall commencement
A total of 8,625 individuals received their degrees, according to the university. The ceremony was also the largest commencement in university history. There were 7,826 degrees conferred to bachelor’s, master’s and law degree candidates on Saturday.
UW students, families gather at Camp Randall Stadium for 2023 spring commencement
Former U.S. Attorney General, student speakers encourage graduates to fight for social change, justice
UW-Madison to celebrate spring commencement this weekend
There will be two ceremonies, one at 5:30 p.m. Friday at the Kohl Center and another at noon Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium.
Everything you need to know about this year’s UW-Madison commencement ceremonies
UW-Madison’s spring commencement ceremonies are this weekend, bringing thousands of people to downtown Madison. Even if you aren’t among the people celebrating a graduation this weekend, there are still some things to know when it comes to travel and congestion downtown.
UW System eliminates diversity statements from hiring process. Here’s the latest on the campus DEI debate.
The University of Wisconsin System will no longer ask job applicants to sign statements about their commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion efforts on campuses in an effort to depoliticize the hiring process.
Thousands will graduate from UW-Madison, Edgewood and Madison College this weekend
More than 10,000 Madison-area college students will receive degrees this weekend over a two-day span starting Friday.
Internet-famous for Irish dancing, Mary Papageorge is about to grab a new title: UW-Madison alum
Mary Papageorge is a testament to putting her classroom learning to use. As one of the 70% of UW-Madison students who have a job offer in hand by the time they don their caps and gowns for commencement, Papageorge will take what she learned in class and on her portable Irish dance platform to improve consumer relationships.
UW Madison new alumni get ready for their big weekend
Friday’s ceremony will award all doctoral, MFA and medical professional student’s degrees at 5:30 p.m. at the Kohl Center. Saturday’s ceremony will include all undergraduate degrees, law and master’s degree students at Camp Randall, beginning at noon. Nearly 8,000 students have decided they plan to participate in one of these commencement ceremonies.
Wisconsin led the nation in youth turnout in the November midterms
Noted: Political organizers in Wisconsin say the numbers indicate that young people will participate if given the tools and information to do so. In a state where many races are decided by razor-thin margins, this population sees its voice as able to make a difference, said Ali Beneker, 19, who chairs the University of Wisconsin-Madison chapter of College Republicans.
“When we have 10 statewide elections in the last 22 years that were decided by less than 30,000 votes, and then you look at the UW-Madison campus, and we have around 50,000 people, that’s a huge impact that college students can have on Wisconsin elections,” she said. “I think that students are starting to realize the power we have.”