On Wednesday, UW-Madison and the Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association (WFAA) announced the Raimey-Noland Campaign, an addition to the university’s All Ways Forward fundraising efforts.
The Raimey Noland Campaign will provide resources to aid in diversity, equity and inclusion efforts across campus and create a new fund where the chancellor will support these initiatives.
The campaign is named for the first known African American woman and man to graduate from UW-Madison, Mabel Watson Raimey and William Smith Noland.
The campaign will add to the $10 million diversity fundraising effort announced by Chancellor Rebecca Blank in July 2020. Donors have committed more than $20 million for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives since the initial announcement.
“We recognize that this is the time to continue our positive momentum,” said Lou Holland, WFAA board member and chair of the campus work group that developed the campaign concept, in a release. “We believe that once our alumni and friends are aware of this important need, they will continue to offer their support.”
The Raimey-Noland Campaign provides opportunities for alumni, friends, community leaders, corporations and foundations to rally around the university’s most critical needs for its diversity, equity and inclusion.
“These efforts will increase academic support and financial aid for many of our students, help us attract and retain high-quality faculty and expand the ways in which we nurture an inclusive community at UW-Madison,” said Blank in the release.
This campaign focuses on five main goals: Increasing the diversity of the student body, increasing faculty and staff diversity, enhancing students academic success and career readiness, supporting an inclusive and welcoming campus community and investing in research addressing social and racial injustice.
"Unfortunately, neither Raimey or Noland have any known descendants that can help share their stories with future generations," said Mike Knetter, Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association President and CEO, in the release. "We hope by naming this effort in their honor that WFAA and UW-Madison can both continue the legacies of Mabel Raimey and William Noland and create a more inclusive future at UW-Madison."
