Cultural Impact

UW campuses generate and sponsor arts and cultural events of many kinds, including music and theater, visual and fine arts programs, guest speakers, symposia, festivals, and more. These events attract people to campuses and their surrounding communities, support local businesses, and enrich lives.

  1. UW-Madison students remember Black Student Strike

    Photo of a recent UW-Madison panel discussion at the Memorial Union, in which several of the former students shared their experiences.

    April 16, 2019

    UW-Madison students helped create an oral history project about the Black Student Strike 50 years ago. Joined by white supporters, the students boycotted classes, took over lecture halls, and blocked building entrances while galvanizing community support behind their demands to enroll more African-American students and hire more faculty of color. Several of the former students […]

  2. UW-Eau Claire Blugolds help bring World War II history to life

    Photo of UW-Eau Claire history professor Dr. James Oberly and student researchers who traveled to Budapest to help bring to life the World War II diaries of Dr. Maria Madi.

    April 8, 2019

    UW-Eau Claire history professor Dr. James Oberly and student researchers traveled to Budapest to help bring to life the World War II diaries of Dr. Maria Madi, who saved a young Jewish boy from persecution in Hungary. The Blugolds are creating a website and interactive storytelling tools to make the diaries — which are housed […]

  3. UW-Oshkosh senior honored to welcome social justice activist Angela Davis to campus

    Photo of prominent national speaker Angela Davis and UW-Oshkosh senior Brianna Langs

    April 2, 2019

    Through the hard work and initiative of UW-Oshkosh senior Brianna Langs, the campus welcomed a prominent national speaker in March to kick off Women’s History Month. Long-time social justice activist Angela Davis used her keynote to inspire a packed crowd of more than 700 in Reeve Union. Davis spoke about justice for women of color […]

  4. UW-Stout, Mabel Tainter create new Red Cedar Film Festival

    Photo of UW-Stout students in a summer cinema course.

    March 20, 2019

    UW-Stout has collaborated with the Mabel Tainter Center for the Arts to create the Red Cedar Film Festival in Menomonie, which will debut in July. The downtown festival venues will include UW-Stout’s historic Harvey Hall Theatre and involve university students majoring in entertainment design and video production. Organizers hope the festival gives an economic boost to the […]

  5. ‘An affirming space’: Black Cultural Center opens at UW-Eau Claire

    Photo of the opening of the Black Cultural Center at UW-Eau Claire

    February 28, 2019

    In fall 2017, members of the Black Student Alliance at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire met with Chancellor James Schmidt and Vice Chancellor Tamara Johnson to discuss the challenges they face as black students at a predominantly white university. They shared their struggles on campus — from those experienced during classroom interactions to those in […]

  6. Heartwarming turnout at UW-Superior’s William “Pope” Wright Jr. Student Center dedication

    Photo of the naming and dedication ceremony for UW-Superior's William “Pope” Wright Jr. Student Center held Nov. 28 in the recently refurbished space in Old Main, formerly known as the Multicultural Center.

    February 20, 2019

    The naming and dedication ceremony for the William “Pope” Wright Jr. Student Center was held Wednesday, Nov. 28, in the recently refurbished space in Old Main, formerly known as the Multicultural Center. The room was packed with standing room only as current and former students, staff, faculty and community members gathered to honor the beloved […]

  7. UW-Oshkosh invites Oshkosh 94 members for time of healing, remembering

    Photo of Sheila Knox, a member of the Oshkosh 94, who served on the Black Thursday Remembered committee. Knox was recognized Dec. 15 at Commencement with an Honorary Doctorate degree, in part for her work in preserving the story and legacy of the Oshkosh 94.

    February 14, 2019

    Last fall at UW-Oshkosh was a time for sharing and healing. Fifty years ago, 94 African-American students were arrested and expelled after demanding improved experiences for students of color. The campus invited these students to return for midyear commencement and an emotional remembrance event. Chancellor Leavitt presented Sheila Knox with an honorary doctorate and recognized other Oshkosh 94 […]

  8. UW-Milwaukee helps traumatized veterans, with assistance from Shakespeare

    Photo of UW-Milwaukee's Feast of Crispian, a program to help veterans. UWM educates more military veterans than any other four-year college in Wisconsin.

    December 19, 2018

    Charlie Walton has been searching for the words since the moment he touched down in Vietnam as an 18-year-old Marine. After a trans-Pacific flight filled with gung-ho songs from boot camp, a Viet Cong sniper welcomed Walton and his fellow recruits by picking off a lieutenant as he deplaned. On his first patrol, Walton was […]

  9. UW-Superior hosts dedication ceremony for Medicine Wheel

    Photo of UW-Superiors new Medicine Wheel, dedicated fall 2018

    December 13, 2018

    The University of Wisconsin-Superior (UWS) held a dedication ceremony on Indigenous People’s Day, Monday, Oct. 8, for the Maawanji’idiwin – “The Place Where We Come Together” Medicine Wheel and Community Gathering Area. The Medicine Wheel is located in the UWS courtyard near the Yellowjacket Union and is the first of its kind at any four-year […]

  10. UW-Madison offers today’s middle school students chance to study yesterday’s people of Aztalan

    Photo of recent UW-Madison alumna Sarah Taylor, squatting at center, and Aleesha Kozar, standing at center, demonstrating a method for accurately measuring square grids of land as groups of sixth graders visiting from Fort Atkinson Middle School tour one of four educational stations temporarily set up at Aztalan State Park, a prehistoric Native American site located near Lake Mills, Wis., during spring on May 24, 2018. Funded by a Baldwin Wisconsin Idea Project Grant, the public outreach program is led by UW-Madison Anthropology Professor Sissel Schroeder, who has previously conducted several undergraduate archeological fields schools and research projects at the site. (Photo by Jeff Miller / UW-Madison)

    October 17, 2018

    Middle school students visited an archaeological site at Aztalan State Park in southeast Wisconsin to learn how people lived 1,000 years ago. Children’s interest in archaeology was piqued at various stations, where they saw artifacts and discussed the process of excavation and radiocarbon dating. Funded by a Baldwin Wisconsin Idea Project Grant, the public outreach program is led by UW-Madison […]

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