Badger Tracks Winter 2013

Help shape Alumni Park, a future greenspace that will occupy the area between the Below Alumni Center and Memorial Union (see back cover). The park will be a tribute to UW graduates, and WAA would like your suggestions for those who best exemplify the Wisconsin Idea. Would you suggest scientists such as dual-Nobel-laureate John Bardeen ’28, MS’29? Giants of literature such as Joyce Carol Oates MA’61? Or one of the university’s other 400,000 accomplished alumni? Share your ideas at WisconsinIdea@uwalumni.com — it’s your chance to make your mark on the park!

Parents’ Weekend attracted a record number of participants, with 3,616 attendees representing 1,095 families. New this year: the Wisconsin Alumni Student Board hosted younger siblings of UW students whose parents were visiting campus for the September event. The student group wowed the potential Badgers with tours of the Kohl Center and the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, bowling at Union South, and, of course, some Babcock ice cream.

The Homecoming Committee reached out to alumni in a big way this year, inviting them to events such as a campus cleanup, a blood drive, and the Wisconsin Rewind lecture, which featured Ben Relles ’97, head of programming strategy at YouTube. Some 10,000 people enjoyed the Homecoming parade, and off-campus Badgers were able to engage through everything from live-streaming of the Rewind lecture to game-watch parties and social media. WAA also hosted a post-parade Spirit Stop, serving refreshments and good cheer for some 800 parade-watchers.

More than 6,500 alumni and friends made Badger-to-Badger connections at BADGER HUDDLE® tailgates around the country this fall, including events at Arizona State, Purdue, Ohio State, Camp Randall, and Illinois. The association sponsored trips to Arizona State and Illinois, and the WAA: Valley of the Sun Chapter held a kickoff party the evening before the Arizona game that drew 1,200 fans.

Published in the Winter 2013 issue