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-La Crosse campus toy drive for Afghan children a success

    Photo of Lisa Klein, UW-La Crosse Community Engagement Coordinator, loading toys collected for Afghan children at Fort McCoy. The two-week, campus-wide effort netted around 400 toys.

    October 15, 2021

    Children of Afghan refugees at Fort McCoy will have new toys to play with thanks to a UW-La Crosse toy drive. The campus-wide effort over a two-week period involved students, […]

  2. UW-Stout animation students help make a ‘Star Wars’ wish come true

    Photo of a storm trooper being filmed during “The Legend of Lex Zander,” a Make-A-Wish Foundation of Minnesota film that includes animation made by UW-Stout students. Photo courtesy Kari Jo Skogquist

    October 8, 2021

    Group creates Make-A-Wish film segment for Minnesota teen Ten University of Wisconsin-Stout students, as part of their field experiences last summer, are helping make a Minnesota teen’s wish come true. […]

  3. UW-Milwaukee children’s center celebrating 50 years of care, learning, and fun

    Photo of Ryan Rupp, who attended the Children’s Learning Center as a child and now, his children are there. Rupp is pictured at the 50th anniversary celebration with his wife, Brenda Hasse-Rupp, and their two children, Arthur and Margot. (UWM Photo/Elora Hennessey)

    October 7, 2021

    Fifty years ago, the Children’s Learning Center at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee opened its doors to serve students who needed child care. Since then, thousands of children have gotten an […]

  4. UW-Eau Claire’s COVID-19 archiving project earns Wisconsin Historical Society award

    Photo of Blugolds (from left) Breida Torres Berumen, Lucy Hobbs, and Claire Ganschow, who are capturing and preserving stories shared by people in western Wisconsin about what life has been like during COVID-19. The project is being recognized by the Wisconsin Historical Society for its important contributions to the region and state. (Submitted photo)

    October 5, 2021

    A University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire-led project that captures and preserves COVID-19 stories and artifacts from the campus and surrounding communities is being honored by the Wisconsin Historical Society for its […]

  5. UW-La Crosse alum finds calling as museum marketer

    Photo of Sean Mobley, '12, a social media and content specialist for the Museum of Flight in Seattle. As a student at UW-La Crosse, Mobley recorded podcasts in his residence hall using a Guitar Hero microphone — experience that has come in handy throughout his career.

    October 4, 2021

    Sean Mobley came to UWL to study engineering — his first step toward a career designing roller coasters for Walt Disney World.    But there was one problem: Mobley hated calculus.  […]

  6. UW-Milwaukee easing students’ return to campus by nurturing well-being

    Photo of a visit to Bradford Beach, one of dozens of events during Fall Welcome where students could have fun and meet other students as they returned to the campus, many for the first time since the pandemic struck. (UWM Photo/Elora Hennessey)

    September 30, 2021

    Rachel Comande spent last year at UWM caught in a two-step dance between attending classes in her suite in Sandburg Residence Hall and her bedroom back home. Gone were the […]

  7. ACT fast: How the perfect program and its proactive leader changed a 58-year-old teaching student’s life

    Photo pf ACT: Alternative Careers in Teaching

    September 29, 2021

    “The stars must be aligned because this is all coming together.” Michael Czerwinski remembers that line well. It was written to him in an email by Tammy Ladwig, then the […]

  8. Making a difference: Thomas Harris a driving force for UWL, area social justice

    Photo of Thomas Harris, who graduated with a master’s in college student personnel in ’01, and has received the 2021 Academic Staff Excellence Award that recognizes excellence in performance and service. Among his service on campus was a stint as hall director in Wentz Hall.

    September 24, 2021

    When Thomas Harris was graduating with a bachelor’s degree, three of his UW-Stevens Point mentors told him he had what it takes to make a difference among college students. Harris drove to […]

  9. From the other side of the world, girl in Kenya learns computer coding at UW-Milwaukee

    Photo of Elsie Maingi from Kenya who competed Girls Who Code program offered by UW-Milwaukee

    August 30, 2021

    The pandemic and a year of virtual schooling had an unexpected benefit for a little girl in Kenya who connected with Girls Who Code at UWM. “I use the computer […]

  10. UW-Eau Claire professor maps elevation for Olympics marathon course

    Photo of Dr. Sean Hartnett, UW-Eau Claire professor of geography, standing with marathoners Paul Tergat, center, and Haile Gebrselassie at a 2011 celebration of world record holders at the 2011 Berlin Marathon.

    August 27, 2021

    For the second time in the past three Olympics, UW-Eau Claire geography professor Dr. Sean Hartnett has produced an elevation profile map of the marathon course for competitors, coaches, media and fans. […]

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