UniverCity Alliance supporters raise over $22,000 during 2025 Day of the Badger

During the Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association’s annual Day of the Badger event on April 8-9, UniverCity Alliance supporters raised over $22,000 to support community-engaged partnerships across Wisconsin. 

The background is an installation of red and silver disco balls in Alumni Park. The largest disco ball has the Day of the Badger logo in white. There is an image on top of the background that has a checkmark circle with the words "challenge met" encircled by a red circle. The rest of the text reads: UniverCity Alliance Challenge. Thanks to John Holton, John and Linda Nelson, Jeffrey and Sara Wiesner, and Pat Thiele, once 40 gifts have been made to the Hometown Partnership Fund on Day of the Badger, $20,000 will be unlocked. This challenge has ended.UniverCity raised $2,170 from 44 individual contributors, which unlocked a matching challenge gift of $20,000 from a generous group of donors that includes John Holton, John and Linda Nelson, Jeffrey and Sara Wiesner, and Pat Thiele. 

“We are so grateful for the support of our long-time donors and supporters and those who are just learning about UniverCity Alliance,” Managing Director Megan McBride said. “These gifts will help UniverCity Alliance continue supporting thriving Wisconsin communities and engaging University of Wisconsin–Madison students.” 

When people give to UniverCity, they are supporting:  

  • Site visits across Wisconsin to UniverCity’s partner communities that provide students with valuable learning experiences and the university with an opportunity to build stronger relationships across the state 
  • UW–Madison instructors applying their teaching and research to Wisconsin communities who may need additional resources to conduct community-based learning projects 
  • Student scholarships and research expenses

Interested in supporting UniverCity Alliance? Learn more here.