During her Winter 2024 commencement speech, Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin highlighted new records set by the graduating class that included highlights from UniverCity Alliance.
“We supercharged our work to solve real problems in communities across Wisconsin with record breaking numbers of you diving into UniverCity projects as well as many other forms of experiential education,” Mnookin said during the ceremony at the Kohl Center on Dec. 15.
During the 2023-24 academic year, students contributed to 81 UniverCity projects and 12 partnerships – a record for UniverCity. By connecting students from all different backgrounds with Wisconsin local governments, UniverCity brings together groups of people that typically wouldn’t have the chance to collaborate. These connections grow out of humility and meeting people where they’re at, and ultimately, make Wisconsin communities and campus stronger.
For example, Waupaca, Wausau, and Portage are seeing a growing number of immigrant communities and have turned to UW–Madison to figure out how to make their communities more welcoming and a place where all can be socially and economically prosperous.
Mnookin’s speech highlighted “the incredible variety of people” that the graduates built community with during their time in Madison.
“And when you worked together, whether it was for a student organization, or for a class project, you likely found that you sometimes came at the assignment from different, even contradictory, angles — and maybe you argued well into the night about some point or another — but somehow you combined to make your project a spectacular success,” said Mnookin. “That’s pluralism. It’s the foundation we’re built on that aspires to give each individual respect, every voice its due, any idea a fair hearing and a thorough vetting. Pluralism is a secret sauce. And it’s part of what makes a world class university like ours truly great.”
—Abigail Becker