About 900 University of Wisconsin–Madison students are preparing for Humorology, the university’s largest student-run philanthropy and variety show tradition.
Students spend the year writing and performing original mini-musicals in teams made up of Greek life and other campus groups. The final shows will be held April 23–25 at the Wisconsin Union Theater in Madison.
The Madison Museum of Contemporary Art on Tuesday announced the addition of Gelsy Verna’s ‘Mother, Father, Please Help Me‘ to its permanent collection.
The piece was one of Verna’s last major works and will be on display as part of an exhibition at MMoCA’s Henry Street Gallery from May 8 to Sept. 27. Verna, a Haitian-born Canadian artist, served as an associate professor at UW-Madison from 2001 to 2008. The school’s art department dedicated a project space in her memory following her death in March 2008.
UW-Madison’s future engineering building just got another major fundraising boost.
Badger alumni and donors John and Tashia Morgridge have donated $25 million toward the university’s 395,000-square-foot engineering building that’s under construction, the Phillip A. Levy Engineering Center, the university announced Tuesday.
A cluster of outdated historic dorms at UW-Madison next to Lake Mendota is getting a major makeover, including new elevators and air conditioning.
Located in UW-Madison’s Lakeshore neighborhood, Humphrey and Jorns halls and Kronshage Residence Hall’s complex — which consists of a main building and eight smaller buildings — will be overhauled with $79.2 million in upgrades starting next fall, according to UW Board of Regents materials.
A UW-Madison School of Journalism Ph.D. student is back home living just outside Tehran. Each day brings fear and uncertainty for Tahereh Rahimi, who does not support the war, nor does she support the regime. She sees her country and people living there being destroyed. Communications are mostly down in the country, so we sent her questions to learn firsthand what it’s like right now. Here’s a sampling of what she said.
The ICE OUT UW Coalition marched up Bascom Hill to demand the University of Wisconsin end surveillance and refuse cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcements on Higher Education Day of Action April 17.
ICE OUT UW is comprised of UW’s United Faculty and Academic Staff union, their graduate student union Teaching Assistant Association and several student groups such as the Socialist Alternative and Voces de la Frontera, according to Wisconsin Bail Out the People Movement.
The Transcend UW startup competition hosted student entrepreneurs in the Discovery Building April 16 to 17, according to the Transcend website. At the event, participants pitched ventures and connected with investors and industry professionals, according to Transcend President Siddharth Singh. Prize winners walked away with thousands of dollars for their innovations.
UW Madison hosting Family Gardening Day in May.
This spring, the staff of the Chazen Museum of Art in Madison, Wis., is in the midst of shuffling the deck of its collection, following a well-laid plan but staying open to last-minute inspiration as they go. The museum will be closed for around two months this summer, with the grand reopening scheduled for September.
When in-person classes resumed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison following the COVID-19 pandemic, Liv Romanov found herself on academic probation during her sophomore year.
She knew she needed to make a change and started meeting with an adviser at the McBurney Disability Resource Center, which students at Wisconsin’s flagship campus have increasingly sought out for help in recent years. For Romanov, the center made all of the difference.
University of Wisconsin’s Women in Entrepreneurship hosted TikTok creator Bria Lemirande Thursday to discuss her journey as a content creator and entrepreneur. The event emphasized the importance of connections through an online platform.
To Madison-based writer Alison C. Rollins, poetry is interactive. Her second book, “Black Bell,” includes instructions for reading poems, where the reader is invited to cut them up and rearrange them.
“Some pages are perforated so they can be torn out,” Rollins said. “There are visuals and diagrams. I wanted to expand what people expect from a traditional poetry book.”
This week, Rollins, a University of Wisconsin-Madison assistant professor in the English department, was awarded a $50,000 prize for her work. The Whiting Awards were established in 1985 and have been awarded to notable figures such as Ocean Vuong and Colson Whitehead.
Time magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people of 2026 includes three people with strong Wisconsin connections: Olympic hockey champion and U.S. team captain Hilary Knight, a former University of Wisconsin-Madison star; actor Kate Hudson, who portrayed local singer Claire Sardina in the recent film “Song Sung Blue”; and photojournalist Lynsey Addario, a UW alum renowned for documenting the lives of women and children in conflict zones.
Longtime UW-Madison Law School professor Marc Galanter, an influential legal scholar and mentor to many, died Tuesday. He was 95.
Galanter was born on Feb. 18, 1931, in Philadelphia to his two parents, Jacob and Mary.
He met his wife, Eve Galanter, at the University of Chicago in 1966 after she reached out asking to attend a class he was teaching, but she couldn’t make it to his talk. He offered to put together a reading list for her.
Three University of Wisconsin–Madison juniors have received 2026 Goldwater Scholarships, the premier undergraduate scholarship in mathematics, engineering and the natural sciences in the United States.
The students are juniors Aletta Bergman, Krithi Gopinath and Eva Stafne.
Last fall, Tahereh Rahimi traveled back to Iran to study local journalism for her dissertation. These days, the University of Wisconsin-Madison Ph.D. candidate finds herself sheltering with her parents, fearing for their lives.
Rahimi returned to her home country in September to conduct field work at a local news organization that has since stopped publishing because of the war. She was excited to be home after years away and looked forward to continuing her doctorate work.
University of Wisconsin-Madison’s University Health Services is hosting a free art and history gallery this April highlighting campus sexual assault activism over the past 50 years, featuring student-made artwork for Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
The exhibit is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday on the first floor of 333 East Campus Mall as part of a Connect and Reflect series to raise awareness about sexual violence.
University Wisconsin-Madison College Democrats and Republicans debated campus free speech, foreign policy and political polarization at Union South Monday in an event focused on fostering productive conversations between those with differing opinions.
The Wisconsin Union Directorate Society and Politics Committee moderated the conversation.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison American Indian and Indigenous Studies program will host its spring Elder-in-Residence, Leon Valliere, on campus this week as part of an initiative aimed at strengthening connections between students and Indigenous communities, according to the UW Events Calendar.
A local diving club is set to close its doors this summer. On June 11, Wisconsin Dive Club officials announced they will no longer be able to use UW-Madison Rec Well’s Soderholm Family Aquatic Center.
The dive club stated it does not know the reasoning behind the decision; however, the director of UW-Madison’s Rec Well explained that due to high demand, they could not accommodate the club’s preferred times.
Day of the Badger, the University of Wisconsin’s annual giving celebration, took over campus Wednesday.
Alumni, students and friends were asked to pay it forward by donating to a UW program or department of their choice. Donors can choose from more than 150 areas across the university.
UW says the total has topped $2 million, with the money going to programs that support students.
The severe weather in Madison this week couldn’t stop the reemergence of the colorful sunburst chairs at UW-Madison’s Memorial Union Terrace.
Crews unpacked the orange, yellow and green sunburst chairs and tables on Wednesday in preparation for a celebration at 3 p.m. Friday for the official opening of the terrace at the Memorial Union, 800 Langdon St.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison is warning about a new invasive plant, the fig buttercup, spreading across the Upper Midwest.
The fig buttercup emerges in early spring for a short period, according to university officials.
The plant has heart-shaped leaves and bright yellow flowers. Officials said it is important to look for it now because there is only a brief window when it can be identified.
Wisconsin has long influenced national policies, ranging from its status as the first state to ratify the 19th amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote to the advent of the school choice program.
Spirited school pride, interactive games and opportunities to double donations are all part of this year’s Day of the Badger, a two-day fundraising effort supporting the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Sponsored by the Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association, the annual event brings together alumni, students and supporters through both virtual and in-person activities aimed at raising critical funds for campus programs and initiatives.
Organizers say more than 150 areas across campus are participating this year, including schools, colleges, departments and other causes. Donors can choose where to direct their contributions through the event’s website.
The University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center welcomed the public this weekend for its annual open house, giving visitors a closer look at cancer research and prevention efforts.
The event featured lab tours, interactive exhibits and family-friendly activities, including appearances by Bucky Badger.
Wisconsin has added a definition of antisemitism to state law, joining dozens of other states but drawing sharp criticism from opponents who say it will police free speech rights, specifically on college campuses.
Gov. Tony Evers on March 27 signed Assembly Bill 446, now 2025 Act 143, codifying the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition and examples for antisemitism to help determine discriminatory intent.
Purdue and the University of Wisconsin-Madison each plan to add 50 new faculty positions in AI before 2030.
Ukrainian surgeons are in Madison this week, training at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to learn specialized techniques they can take back home to treat patients injured in the war.
Six surgeons are taking part in a two-week intensive training at UW’s Microsurgery Regenerative Medicine Lab, working under microscopes to practice reconnecting tiny blood vessels and nerves.
Civil rights activist Ruby Bridges spoke with University of Wisconsin’s assistant professor Aireale Rodgers at the Wisconsin Union Directorate’s final event of the Distinguished Lecture Series April 8, discussing equality, education and community.
The event, held in Shannon Hall, sold out, and the room was packed with students, faculty and community members.
Former Lt. Gov. and 2026 gubernatorial candidate Mandela Barnes joined approximately 40 students at a University of Wisconsin College Democrats meeting Wednesday to discuss his affordability-centered campaign.
Barnes will face eight other candidates in the Democratic primary for governor Aug. 11, according to Ballotopedia.
One of the best-selling authors in the world will be giving the keynote commencement speech at UW-Madison this spring.
James Patterson was announced as the spring speaker by UW-Madison in a press release on Wednesday.
“James Patterson has shown what it means to make the most of your education — and what it means to give back. We are thrilled to welcome him as this year’s commencement speaker,” UW–Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin said. “His successes as a writer are unparalleled, and so is the generosity of his time, talent and resources, which have made lasting impacts on higher education and the lives of countless students.”
Susan Zahner, who has served in the role of interim dean of the School of Nursing since the beginning of December, will continue in her role for the foreseeable future.
Zahner, former associate dean for faculty affairs and Vilas Distinguished Achievement professor, has served in the role since Nov. 30, 2025, upon the passing of Dean Emerit Linda Scott. Zahner brings 24 years of faculty and leadership experience to the role.
Kristin Eschenfelder, a professor and associate dean, will serve as the interim dean of the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s largest academic unit, the College of Letters & Science.
The appointment is effective on May 17, concurrent with the beginning of Dean Eric M. Wilcots’s term as interim chancellor.
Eschenfelder, who has been on campus since she joined the Information School faculty in 2000, has served as the L&S academic associate dean and associate director for the School of Computer, Data & Information Sciences since it launched in 2019.
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is inviting the community to explore science up close this weekend during its annual UW Science Expeditions.
The free, campus-wide open house runs Friday through Sunday, April 10–12, across UW–Madison. Organizers say the event is designed to connect the public with scientists, students and research spaces through hands-on experiences.
UW Science Expeditions features dozens of venues and activities spanning disciplines from astronomy to zoology. Visitors can take part in interactive exploration stations, attend live science shows and tour labs, museums and greenhouses across campus.
Throughout the weekend, participants can visit locations such as Washburn Observatory, campus greenhouses, and research centers, while meeting scientists and learning about ongoing work at the university.
The board of Wisconsin’s public university system voted on Tuesday to fire President Jay O. Rothman, who angered Democrats and faculty members for bargaining with the Republican-led State Legislature and recently defied regents pressing for his resignation.
The decision was unanimous, with 17 members of the board — which is controlled by appointees of Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat — voting to remove Mr. Rothman. One member was not present for the vote.
A new five-year strategic framework for UW–Madison helps identify and advance clear shared priorities and define the university’s mission for the years ahead.
The following message was sent by Chancellor Jennifer L. Mnookin, Provost John Zumbrunnen and Interim Chancellor-designate Eric M. Wilcots to all students and employees on April 7, 2026.
University of Wisconsin–Madison graduate programs are once again highly ranked among the nation’s best in the 2026 edition of U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Graduate Schools.”
Highlights include high marks in several specific rankings — with nearly 20 ranking in their respective top 10 lists — shining a light on the breadth and depth of the university’s overall graduate offerings.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison is opening its doors for Science Expeditions, an annual campus-wide science open house held April 10-12.
The community is invited to try hands-on activities at different stations, tour research spaces, view Science Spectacular Shows, and attend lectures.
This is the 24th year of the event, and it is free and open to all.
The president of the University of Wisconsin system said in letters obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday that he has been told to either resign or be fired, but has been given no reason and won’t step aside.
Jay Rothman, president of the multicampus 165,000-student university system since 2022, said in a letter addressed to the head of the Board of Regents dated March 26 that he has been given no reason why regents want him to leave.
Jay Rothman’s tenure as Universities of Wisconsin president hasn’t been without controversy, but it’s not clear yet why the UW Board of Regents has asked him to resign or be fired.
The Associated Press reported Thursday that Rothman wrote in a letter to the Regents that he is resisting the board’s request for him to step aside as leader of the 13-university system because they didn’t give him a reason.
Genevieve Simmons grimaced the more Mitch Reuter tightened a tourniquet around her arm.
“Definitely don’t have a pulse,” Simmons chuckled as Reuter checked her wrist.
Reuter was demonstrating how to use a tourniquet as he led a Stop the Bleed training last month at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Students filled a classroom in Birge Hall to learn how to pack a wound and apply pressure in a medical emergency.
While facing a tough job market, the majority of recent UW-Madison graduates found employment or planned to pursue another degree after graduation, a new university survey found.
Within six months of graduation, about 62% of recent UW-Madison graduates had a job lined up, and nearly 27% planned to continue their education, according to the survey the university released Tuesday.
For most of his childhood, Shaawan Francis Keahna considered himself to be a fundamentally unattractive kid — “too giggly and too gangly and too smart,” as he put it to me recently, “with a face that was really, really adult, despite my youth. My biggest problem, of course, was that I was just plain weird.” Growing up in Hayward, a former logging town on the Namekagon River in northwestern Wisconsin, he was often teased by white classmates for his Native ancestry and for his love of poetry and art. “It became a self-fulfilling thing,” he said. “I internalized it and basically came to see myself exactly the way they saw me.”
The University of Iowa has a National Advanced Driving Simulator, one of the largest in the world, which will assist the team in building a lunar terrain vehicle.
There is something revealing — almost too revealing — about how quickly a university can move from the language of education to the language of enforcement.
Within hours of a student government vote calling for divestment, the University of Wisconsin–Madison administration issued a statement denouncing the resolution as “flawed, unrelated and illegal.” Not misguided. Not debatable. Illegal.
A former assistant professor at Wisconsin’s flagship public university has agreed to settle a federal lawsuit that claimed he was discriminated against when he was denied tenure.
The case was scheduled to go to trial Monday in the Western District of Wisconsin and was expected to last five days. But over the weekend, the parties notified the judge they reached a settlement, court records show.
The leading candidate in Wisconsin’s race for governor is unhappy with a new law that defines antisemitism and looks to fight it at the University of Wisconsin.
State Rep. Francesca Hong, D-Madison, who is leading the Democratic race for governor, and who calls herself a Democratic Socialist, took to social media recently to criticize a new law that Gov. Tony Evers signed.
“I am disappointed that Gov. Evers has signed into law a controversial definition of antisemitism that will compromise free speech across the state and academic freedom at our universities,” Hong wrote.
The UW-Madison Police Department announced they will be conducting their annual test of the WiscAlert system.
The test will take place on Tuesday at noon.
The UW-Madison Police Department stated that the timing of the test during spring break is intentional to avoid disrupting classes and studying.
The UW-Madison Police Department will stop sharing its campus Flock camera’s data with Wisconsin counties that are cooperating with federal immigration enforcement, Chief Brent Plisch said at a meeting Monday.
The eight AI-powered surveillance cameras, installed on campus in July, have been a flashpoint at UW-Madison in recent weeks, sparking calls from staff and faculty on leaders and police to remove them, over concerns about mass surveillance and data sharing with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
This March and April, the UW Cinematheque is featuring a new series on the work of legendary American film director John Ford in the 1930s, in conjunction with the publication of John Ford At Work: Production Histories 1927–1939. Professor Lea Jacobs, who wrote this new book, out now with Indiana University Press, is also giving short presentations after each screening. The titles in the series—five in all, three of which are on rare 35mm prints—were curated by Director of Programming Jim Healy, Director of the Cinematheque Jeff Smith, and Professor Jacobs herself.
When University of Wisconsin-Madison student Ella Stoltz was considering signing a lease with her friends just a few months into her freshman year, she planned to share her room — a personal sacrifice she believed necessary when faced with an unaffordable rent.
That fall, Stoltz applied for a House Fellow position instead, a decision she made with housing at the front of her mind.
“I think if I was going to a university that had lower tuition and more housing prices, I wouldn’t be a House Fellow,” Stoltz said.
“Is the Mosse Humanities building a historical building?” student government Rep. Amelia Alvarez asked at a March meeting where representatives debated symbolic legislation aimed at saving a building the University of Wisconsin-Madison has been trying to demolish for at least two decades. “It depends. Up to personal interpretation,” the legislation’s co-sponsor, Rep. Amitabha Shatdal, replied.
The University of Wisconsin said Wednesday that it is disappointed with the passage of an Associated Students of Madison resolution, according to a UW press release. The resolution issued a number of flawed, unrelated and illegal demands, according to the press release.
The Associated Students of Madison voted 15-5-3 Wednesday to pass anti-discrimination divestment legislation introduced at the last meeting held March 18.
The legislation calls for divestment from BlackRock index funds containing holdings in companies that manufacture weapons for Israel’s military operations and the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan, as well as corporations that have contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to the legislation.
UW-Madison is reimagining its sailing facilities and outdoor classroom along the shoreline of Lake Mendota, with major proposed upgrades.
The university is planning to build an estimated $2.7 million facility for its Outdoor UW equipment rental facility and Wisconsin Hoofers outdoors club for boat storage, events and education, according to a preliminary design proposal.
Students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison must strike a difficult balance between building the perfect resume to achieve their postgrad goals while also focusing on the classes and college experience in front of them.
College students like UW-Madison junior Abby Madonia say they feel pressured to pursue work experience, while also juggling coursework, part-time jobs and a balanced social life. This pressure is beginning to take its toll.
Dane County’s low unemployment rate, and its role as driver of Wisconsin’s economy, is tied in part to Madison-based Exact Sciences, according to a University of Wisconsin report.
“The Economic Impact of Exact Sciences on Dane County and Wisconsin” was published by UW-Madison’s Center for Research on the Wisconsin Economy before Exact Sciences was acquired on March 23 by Abbott for $23 billion.
If Wisconsin adopts a specific definition of antisemitism — as proposed in a bill recently passed by the state Legislature — the change could collide with First Amendment rights, said Howard Schweber, who studies free speech and constitutional law.
The definition wouldn’t necessarily violate the First Amendment, he said. But issues could “easily arise” if the definition is put to use, said Schweber, a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an affiliate faculty member in the Law School.
UW-Madison on Wednesday swiftly denounced the university student government after it approved a measure demanding the school divest from companies linked to Israel, calling the demands “flawed, unrelated and illegal.”
The Associated Students of Madison passed the bill at a special meeting Wednesday evening after hearing from nearly 40 students who spoke both in favor and against the legislation. The meeting followed several hours of debate at a forum earlier Wednesday.
