In July of 2017, Vanessa McDowell became the first Black woman CEO in YWCA Madison’s 112-year history. She attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison and earned her bachelor’s degree in sociology.
A new program funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture will give youth in three Wisconsin counties the chance to work with the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension to explore post-high school educational and work opportunities.
A class of fourth graders from Green Bay public schools recently submitted questions about renewable energy and the environment to WPR’s “The Morning Show.”
Greg Nemet, an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s La Follette School of Public Affairs, joined the show to answer those questions.
Despite a federal effort to expand lung cancer screenings to more individuals, research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison shows Black and Hispanic individuals were still less likely to be eligible for screenings than white counterparts.
We Are Here: Local Mapmakers Explore the World That Connects Us is an exhibit that was developed by the UW Madison Cartography Lab and currently showing at the Overture Center until January 16th. The exhibit features work from both current students and alumni from their current places of employment and aims to let people know that Madison is a hub and important place of cartography training.
DaneMAC this summer launched a pilot program at UW-Madison that brings forensic nurses to the campus health clinic. Now the organization is expanding services to the general public.
We hear from a graduate student working to learn, and tell, stories of indigenous people who attended and worked at UW-Madison — stories that have so far been missing from the university archives.
Noted: Jeff Sindelar, associate professor in the meat and science department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, agrees 100% with the European influence when it comes to Wisconsin’s sausage skills.
It started with people with strong meat-processing skill sets putting down roots here, but having people who wanted to purchase those foods provided a sustainable market throughout the generations.
Wisconsin was also well-positioned geographically to help carry on those traditions, Sindelar said. Being located between the large population centers of the Twin Cities and Chicago, the latter with its famous stockyards, brought railways to Wisconsin.
The state Legislative Audit Bureau released its annual financial audit of the University of Wisconsin System Tuesday.
The planned renovation of the facility brings One City Schools closer to its goal of offering a tuition-free public charter school, authorized by the University of Wisconsin System, for students in grades 5-12. One City Schools currently offers a tuition-based independent preschool that serves 2- and 3-year-olds as well as 4K students and a tuition-free public charter school for students in K-4.
Noted: A recent count by Cooperative Children’s Book Center School of Education at the University of Wisconsin–Madison found that “books about white children, talking bears, trucks, monsters, potatoes, etc. represent nearly three-quarters of children’s and young adult books published in 2019.” In other words, vegetables, animals, monsters, and aliens had more visibility in books than brown or black characters.
Noted: Marisa Moseley is in her first season as the head women’s basketball coach at the University of Wisconsin. She came to Madison from Boston University, where she was head coach for two seasons. She led the Terriers to their first winning season in five years and was named Patriot League Coach of the Year. Moseley was an assistant coach for nine years under Coach Gino Auriemma at the University of Connecticut, a national women’s basketball powerhouse, following assistant coaching stints at Denver and Minnesota. She played for Boston University from 2000-2004.
Marisa Moseley is in her first season as the head women’s basketball coach at the University of Wisconsin.
Written by Meredith Whye, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a former early childhood teacher.
The Madison City Council signed off Tuesday on a large luxury student housing project fronting the 300 block of State Street, which would reserve more than 100 beds for low-income UW-Madison students, after a petition that would have made it more difficult to pass failed to gain enough valid signatures.
A new report could guide literacy instruction in Madison schools and how education students learn to teach reading. … Some members of the task force, including co-chairs Lisa Kvistad of MMSD and John Diamond of the UW-Madison School of Education, spoke with reporters last week about the report ahead of its presentation to the School Board.
The Center for East Asian Studies (CEAS) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is pleased to announce the winners of the “East Asia in Wisconsin Library Program” competition. Grants have been awarded to public libraries throughout Wisconsin, enriching their collections with new titles that will enable patrons to deepen their understanding of East Asia (which includes China, Japan, and Korea). Over $24,000 in funding will be distributed to 29 libraries, representing 12 of the state’s 14 library systems.
District 5 is a student-majority area that encompasses much of the UW-Madison campus including the dorms, State Street and Eagle Heights. Haasl has represented the district since 2020. In a statement to the press, Haasl explained that they plan not to seek re-election so that they can focus on their own personal wellbeing.
Madison’s Capital High is partnering with the UW-Madison School of Education on a college-level course for high school seniors that focuses on culturally responsive practices.
In just over a half-hour, a class of West High School students made a big dent in the warming climate.
“We all today found a menu of options that when we add them together we can reach our climate goals,” Wisconsin Energy Institute outreach and events coordinator Allison Bender told them.
Bender, through a partnership with the UW-Madison La Follette School of Public Affairs, had presented the students with the En-Roads Climate Change Solutions Simulator. About 100 Advanced Placement Environmental Science students at the high school saw the presentation and got to consider their own climate solutions throughout the day Tuesday in an event funded through the Robert F. and Jean E. Holtz Center for Science and Technology Studies.
Liu, a freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said the youth-led event helps show how they can “empower ourselves.”
In a tweet, the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s BIPOC Coalition said it is working to distribute funds to organizers in Kenosha and Madison.
In 2018, a new street in the Darbo-Worthington Neighborhood on Madison’s east side was created in honor of the legacy of Richard Davis, a Madison jazz legend and Professor Emeritus of Bass at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he taught for nearly four decades. Now, after a fundraising effort throughout the pandemic, Davis’ former student and mentee, Wilder Deitz, has honored the man who inspired him and so many others with a commemorative plaque to accompany the street sign on Richard Davis Lane.
Quoted: “Much of that is because they themselves don’t necessarily feel like they are experts in money management,” said Melody Harvey, an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who studies how public policies affect financial capability.
“I imagine that most parents wouldn’t want to intentionally mislead their children or give wrong information,” she said.
A decade ago, Urban and J. Michael Collins, a professor and financial security researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, were part of the team that examined outcomes in Texas and Georgia after those states implemented a financial education requirement.
They looked at students’ credit reports through age 22 and found students were less likely to have a negative item on their credit report. They also borrowed more — showing they could better fill out applications for things like credit cards or a car loan — and had a lower delinquency rate on those loans than their peers in states without the graduation requirement.
“We saw that those kids who had the financial education had basically fewer mistakes in their early 20s,” Collins said.
Two UW-Madison professors are spotlighting what they call ‘Indigenous Activism.’ The professors spoke about issues the Native American community have been addressing, both past and present.
The fight for the rights of Indigenous Nations and their people was spotlighted at the 2021 UW-Madison Diversity Forum.
Professor Sasha Suarez described shocking stereotypes heard by Native Americans who applied for jobs in recent past — right here in the Midwest. She uncovered those reports during research for her doctorate degree, “Multiple bosses didn’t want to hire and fire [Native Americans] because they were ‘flighty’ and ‘drunk.’”
We asked her how she felt when she discovered that. She replied, “It wasn’t unexpected, but it was hard to read.”
Her colleague Kasey Keeler highlighted the struggle for affordable housing, even after World War II, “For the native veterans where applying for the G.I. Bill — a lot of them were shot down because of racism.”
The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s face covering rule was extended to Nov. 26 in late September. According to spokesperson Meredith McGlone, it’s too soon to determine if the university will pursue another face covering policy after the current one expires.
The Wisconsin Black Student Union (WBSU), the Division of Diversity, Equity, & Educational Achievement (DDEEA), and the Black Cultural Center (BCC) will host “The Stories We Tell: Sharing Black Activism Experiences at UW-Madison” this afternoon, a panel discussion with UW-Madison alumni and current students about their activism during their time as students at the UW.
On a warm Friday night in October, jazz music mingles in the air with the smell of collard greens at Cafe Coda, a Black-owned music venue in Dane County.
A breast cancer survivor found a special way to help other women cope with the debilitating illness through a special scarf sharing project.
UW Madison professor Emerita Gloria Ladson-Billings said she discovered scarves after chemotherapy left her with hair loss.
“And in some ways, I didn’t think anything about it, except I’m going to do for me; I’m going to wear a scarf,” Ladson-Billings said.
The Wisconsin Science Festival is taking over the state Thursday through Sunday, with 170 events in more than 30 counties, including Madison.
Noted: In 2004, Feiring graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in psychology. After studying abroad in Scotland her junior year, Feiring fell in love with the country and its culture. She decided to return to the country and attend the School of Veterinary Studies at the University of Edinburgh.
A flurry of questions ran through Erika Rosales’ head during the college application process: Which schools might accept me? How can I afford it? Am I eligible for any scholarships? How should I answer the question of citizenship status?
It’s the most wonderful time of the year, time for the Wisconsin Book Festival, 28 events this week alone, both in-person and online, and Stu Levitan welcomes one of the featured presenters, and one of the brightest stars in the firmament that is the University of Wisconsin faculty, Professor Jordan Ellenberg, to discuss his NYTimes best-seller, Shape: The Hidden Geometry of Information, Biology, Strategy, Democracy, and Everything Else.
Noted: Currently, De Pierola splits her time between her own business, a part-time job as a Spanish teacher at Thomas Jefferson Middle School, and her own studies. Trained as a lawyer in Peru, she’ll graduate with a masters degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School in December and then take the bar exam — the necessary steps if she wants to practice law in Wisconsin. Simultaneously, she’s earning a teaching credential through online courses from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota.
Quoted: Erin Barbato, the director of the Immigrant Justice Clinic at the University of Wisconsin- Madison, said that the immigration status of evacuees isn’t tied to remaining at the base, but once they leave, a clock starts on their resettlement benefits, which are only available for eight months after leaving the base.
“Many people are confusing the resettlement process with the immigration process. So, when people are applying for humanitarian parole or for their Special Immigrant Visa or even for asylum, that does not need to be completed on the base,” she said. “The issue is people have now been waiting for a long time at these bases and they don’t want to remain there any longer, but many of them need a resettlement plan in order to get their life started in the United States.”
Dr. Jeung co-founded the Stop AAPI Hate reporting center after reading news stories about attacks against Asian American elders and seeing an alarming escalation in xenophobia, bigotry and violence in the United States resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Jeung will be the day-one keynote speaker at the University of Wisconsin-Madison 2021 Diversity Forum Nov. 2-3.
For today’s show, Ali celebrates the 15th annual Passing the Mic Intergenerational Hip Hop Festival with First Wave creative director James Gavins and student poets Azura Tyabji and Zack Lesmeister, who read samples of their poetry on air and share what it’s like being an “artivist” in Madison.
University of Wisconsin-Madison Athletic Director Chris McIntosh and UW Head Football Coach Paul Chryst recently showed their support for the East Side Youth Football Program, helping them replace the football equipment that they lost in a tragic fire. On Sept. 14, they gave the young people a special surprise showing up at practice at Madison East High school to present equipment and speak to the young people.
Extension will require people ages two and older to wear mask in public enclosed spaces.
Eli Tsarovsky graduated from the University of Wisconsin last May after majoring in biochemistry. In August, he was voted president of the Campus Area Neighborhood Association and he also works as the community health AmeriCorps coordinator.
Distance from family and cultural traditions is a common stressor for Latina mothers in the Madison area, said Dr. Patricia Téllez-Girón, a UW Health family medicine provider who treats many Latinas at Wingra Family Medical Center in Madison.
The nonprofit recently partnered with UW-Madison’s Waisman Center on a $330,000 grant aimed at removing some of the barriers Latino families face when seeking care. As part of the three-year grant, Padres E Hijos En Acción has hosted three informational workshops designed to hear the needs of Latino families. The project hopes to create teams of about 20 families that can advocate for themselves and create change in the health care system.
Freakfest 2021 will most likely be canceled this year due to concerns about the potential spread of COVID-19. Freakfest is a festival that typically takes place for Halloween in Madison.
The panel featured Camara Stovall, an elementary school teacher in the Madison Metropolitan School District; Angie Hicks, MMSD’s chief of secondary schools, and Gloria Ladson-Billings, a professor emerita at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education.
Challenging prejudice, something UW Madison Division of Extension Program Manager Sarah Schlosser faces frequently, as a white Muslim woman who wears a hijab. “I think a misconception is that if someone’s in hijab if they’re covering that there’s no way they could be a feminist, there’s no way they can believe in women’s rights and I actually feel like if we believe that women have a right to wear whatever they want, that should be include being as uncovered or as covered as they choose,” Schlosser said.
Describing himself as a “young and impressionable” student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Lau was just shy of his 20th birthday at the time. The scene would move him to take action, altering the course of his career — and his entire life. He abandoned his initial plans to study business, instead taking courses in a field he’d never before considered: law and policing. After receiving his degree and completing the criminal justice certificate program in 2004, Lau got a job in the UW-Madison Police Department, where he’s worked for the past 17 years as an officer.
Through her research, the University of Wisconsin-Madison assistant professor has learned how development, policymaking and finance worked together over the 19th and 20th centuries to “create a lot of the urban environment and the urban inequality that we still see today around us.”
Saeed said volunteers are already gearing up to help refugees start a new life. He is also recruiting volunteers from the Muslim Students Association at UW-Madison.
Littles in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program and their families got to see the UW campus, meet new UW Athletic Director Chris McIntosh, watch UW football and volleyball practices and get a backpack full of school supplies on Aug. 21 at the Big Brothers Big Sisters Back to School event held in partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Littles in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program and their families got to see the UW campus, meet new UW Athletic Director Chris McIntosh, watch UW football and volleyball practices and get a backpack full of school supplies on Aug. 21 at the Big Brothers Big Sisters Back to School event held in partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Quoted: University of Wisconsin-Madison economics professor Timothy Smeeding said the rise in wages for low-income workers means it’s a good time to reassess their jobs and find a better one.
“For those reasons, the job market is in favor of workers right now and turnover is good,” Smeeding said. “When people voluntarily leave jobs, economists think that’s good, because that meant they found something better.”
Quoted: “It’s sort of like a race, where you’re only seeing people at the starting line and people at the finishing line but you’re not seeing how they go around the track,” David Egan-Robertson, a demographer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said of the data released every 10 years.
Noted: Stephen Young is a University of Wisconsin-Madison assistant professor who studies basic income programs in the United States and worldwide. Young said universal basic income is not a “magic bullet solution” but an idea that has gained traction in the past decade to “address structural unemployment and poverty.”
Letter to the editor from Patrick Kass, director, transportation services, UW-Madison: Recently, we’ve had over 4,000 employees enroll in flexible parking options that allow them access to campus parking facilities without a commitment to purchasing a dedicated space for a full year. Combined with a robust bus rapid transit (BRT) system, these policies can build a network of transportation options that will allow our employees to access campus in convenient, cost-effective and more environmentally friendly ways.
Quoted: “If you look at the language of some of these bills, they’re really pretty broad,” says Diana Hess, dean of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s school of education. “There’s a lot of things that are in the language that would make it really hard to teach civic education.”
For today’s show, Tuesday host Carousel Bayrd talks about uncovering UW–Madison’s campus history with Kacie Lucchini Butcher, director of the Public History Project. They discuss some of the project’s research, including fraternity ties to the Ku Klux Klan, housing discrimination, blackface and minstrelsy on campus, and the UWPD.
The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health will be the first site to host a new national fellowship that aims to make the doctor’s office more supportive of LGBTQ patients.
Noted: The fridge was co-founded by Taste Of Home Associate Culinary Producer Sarah Tramonte and University of Wisconsin-Madison Division Of Extension nutrition educator Hataya Johnson.
