On February 5, 1849, a group of University of Wisconsin-Madison students paid a yearly tuition of 20 dollars–the current cost of several days’ worth of Gordon Commons meals–to secure a place in the newly established institution’s first class, according to a university news release.
One hundred and sixty-five years later, UW-Madison remembered these pioneers of education with Wednesday’s annual observance of Founders’ Day, a celebration that originated on campus, according to Wisconsin Alumni Association Managing Director Kate Dixon.
Founders’ Day celebrations were first recorded in 1915, and in 1919, student leaders organized the first “Foundation Day” on campus, driven by the notion that “too few students know anything about the past life of their university,” a concern they expressed in a Daily Cardinal editorial, according to the release.
Historically, the university has honored the occasion by both on- and off-campus celebrations, Dixon said.
While no physical event was held on UW-Madison’s campus this year, WAA encouraged students past and present to commemorate the occasion virtually, and many students and alumni turned to Twitter and other social media to reminisce and praise the university.
Founders’ Day also kicked off a series of alumni events which nearly 70 different WAA chapters nationwide will host in the coming months, Dixon said.
These gatherings usually feature university faculty or staff speakers and foster “camaraderie and appreciation of a UW tradition,” she added.
This year’s Founders’ Day celebrations will center on the theme of past, present and future academic excellence, according to Dixon.
