Force for Freedom teamed up with International Justice Mission—a group that works to fight human trafficking and corruption—to plan events for Freedom Week, which kicked off with the Rally for Freedom petition-signing on East Campus Mall. The petition urges Congress to fund the End Modern Slavery initiative.
Construction on the long-anticipated Hamel Music Center, the university’s new concert hall and rehearsal venue, has begun on the corner of Lake Street and University Avenue.
Despite an April Fools joke teasing about headliners Migos and Noname playing the Revelry Music and Arts Festival, the event has been permanently cancelled. Wisconsin Union Directorate Music Committee student leaders voted to discontinue Revelry following declining interest in the event in recent years, according to WUD Communications Director Shauna Breneman. She said the committee will introduce a new festival—WUDstock—in its place.
UW-Madison alumnus Matthew Desmond’s book was not only the pick for Go Big Read this year, but also for a Pulitzer. His book, “Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City,” won a Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction, according to a UW-Madison news release. “Evicted”—the UW-Madison Go Big Read book for the 2016-2017 program—follows the stories of eight Milwaukee families as they deal with the loss of their homes.
The Memorial Union Terrace will kick off its 2017 summer season with a set of opening day festivities from 2 to 5 p.m. for students, staff and community members.
UW-Madison’s Relay for Life, held at the Camp Randall Sports Center, attracted nearly 625 participants. Funds raised from the event went to the national CAC organization, which has raised $50,000 since September to donate to cancer research.
UW-Madison Police Department responded to reports of disorderly conduct from a patient claiming to be armed at University Hospital Saturday, according to an incident report. An individual barricaded himself in a patient room and claimed he had a gun, according to the report.
The goal of the group is to connect first generation students within the English Department and build a support network, according to Redfield. She said they hope members will participate in career workshops as well as visits from first-generation faculty and staff. Gallagher said she is compiling resources and is hoping to have networking events and similar programs.
Both UW-Madison and city police say they would permit their officers to wear hijabs while on duty, a move that sets them apart from other departments around the country that either do not allow officers to wear religious head coverings or do not have a clear policy on the matter.
Everyone’s favorite badger made his modeling debut Wednesday, showing off UW-Madison’s new commencement attire that adds a “splash of Badger red” to the previously all-black gowns.
This year, three UW-Madison students out of the 1,286 total nominated from 470 institutions received the Barry Goldwater Scholarship to award their excellence in science and mathematics.
A strong armed robbery was reported outside a Lakeshore residence hall Monday night, according to a UW-Madison Police Department Crime Warning. A single victim was tackled to the ground by two reported assailants.
Award-winning author Margaret Atwood visited UW-Madison Monday to discuss reinventing a classic story, and to give her Canadian perspective on national funding for the arts. Atwood began with a quip about the U.S administration, and said sarcastically she was “so happy she was able to cross the border.” She later criticized recent executive orders to cut funding from the National Endowment of the Arts. “Defunding the arts is particularly disadvantageous to smaller communities, many of which have now built up an economy of sorts around things like music and theater ... as those go, there’s going to be a big hole in the economy,” Atwood said, in the talk, which was hosted by the UW-Madison Center for the Humanities along with other organizations . The Canadian author’s latest novel is a revitalization of William Shakespeare’s play “The Tempest” in a more modern, technical setting. Atwood explained the use of technology in the book, “Hag-Seed,” to a crowd of more than 1,000 people in Varsity Hall.
ASM is hosting It’s On Us Week of Action, which includes events Monday through Saturday and features groups like the UW-Madison Army Reserve Officer Training Corps, First Wave and Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment.
Several UW-Madison student organizations are looking to raise awareness of sexual violence throughout April, national Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Two organizations on campus—Promoting Awareness Victim Empowerment and We’re Better Than That—are addressing the sensitive topics that surround sexual assault through student activism. WBTT Incoming Students Committee Leader Rachel Nicolaison is running the “Share Your Why” campaign, which aims to create open conversations on sexual assault through personal storytelling. “We want people to get more of the personal touch which is often missing from the conversation,” Nicolaison said.
The sound of drum beats filled parts of the Alliant Energy Center as dancers in traditional native regalia performed at the 48th On Wisconsin Annual Spring Powwow. The UW-Madison student organization Wunk Sheek coordinated the powwow in the center’s New Holland Pavilions Saturday and Sunday.
The Wisconsin branch of Donate Life America strives to “help students combat the misconceptions that surround organ and tissue donation,” according to Sydney Kelly, a member of the group.
The Madison branch of the Industrial Workers of the World held a demonstration speaking out against fascism and recent violence against members of their union Friday. The demonstration, titled “All Out Against Fascism and Hate,” and organized by the union’s General Defense Committee, attracted roughly 45 people to Library Mall. Demonstrators gathered at Library Mall to listen to speakers such as Alex Gillis of the Union de Trabajadores Inmigrantes, Lariisa Stewart of the Madison Feminist Directory and Sam Olson of the Wisconsin Bail Out the People Movement.
James Smith, a professor in the UW-Madison Mead Witter School of Music, will also retire from his posts as music director of the University Opera and conductor of the Chamber Orchestra.
UW-Madison announced Thursday they are in the final stages of hiring a new Title IX coordinator after David Blom announced he will retire from the position in May. The university is currently under investigation for its handling of sexual assault cases for possible Title IX violations. Two finalists—Nicholas Oleksy and Lauren Hasselbacher—are vying for the position.
Solutions by The State News
