The University of Wisconsin-Madison may offer dorm rooms to law enforcement when thousands of visitors descend on Milwaukee in July for the 2024 Republican National Convention.
Other Wisconsin colleges and universities will also play a role in hosting journalists, law enforcement, convention volunteers and other attendees. UW-Madison is slated to potentially house law enforcement on campus in single, double or triple rooms, as first reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Exact details on which universities will have housing accommodations and the available rooms are still in the works. A UW-Madison spokesperson declined to identify to The Daily Cardinal which dorm or dorms may house law enforcement.
UW-Madison may offer dorm occupancy for up to 236 people. Room rates will be $60 for a single, $35 per person for a double and $31 per person for a triple room, said university spokesperson Greg Bump.
The RNC, in which delegates select the party’s nominees for president and vice president, will be hosted July 15-18 at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee. An estimated 50,000 people could attend, according to the Journal Sentinel.
Given the RNC is in July, District 8 Ald. MGR Govindarajan told the Cardinal he doesn’t think it's a problem for UW-Madison to use some dorms for temporary housing for RNC employees.
“The University typically rents out dorms for large events in the summer anyway,” Govindarajan said. “Doing so for the RNC seems in line with previous actions."
Some students were more concerned about the prospect of UW-Madison providing RNC housing.
“UW-Madison possibly being a space for RNC dorming just shows how politicized and swayed by outside forces the university is,” said Quinn Henneger, a UW-Madison sophomore and member of the ASM Sustainability Committee.
Henneger said they’d rather see UW-Madison prioritize community uses, like housing Madison’s homeless population.
“UW has to go where the money is,” Henneger said, referencing the RNC.
At UW-Milwaukee, spokesperson Angelica Duria said the university offered a 1,600-bed contract to the RNC. The contract is yet to be finalized.
At Marquette University, spokesperson Kevin Conway said the university will keep some dorm space for student athletes and summer students. All other dorms will be at capacity and rented out for the RNC, mainly to law enforcement and media outlets.
Conway said revenue from room rentals is set to go towards student scholarships.
A UW-Madison spokesperson told the Cardinal the university has no further information to share at this time.
Mary Bosch is the photo editor for The Daily Cardinal and a first year journalism student. She has covered multiple stories about university sustainability efforts, and has written for state and city news. Follow her on twitter: @Mary_Bosch6
