Alumni welcome new UW-Madison students at summer celebrations
University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni in 25 U.S. cities are greeting new UW–Madison students this summer to celebrate the start of the students’ college experience.
Chapters of the Wisconsin Alumni Association (WAA) are inviting more than 2,800 incoming students to Badger Student Send-Off Celebrations to congratulate and support new UW–Madison students and their families.
“Students leave these celebrations with new friends they’ll see on campus, and they know they have support from alumni back home,” says WAA president and CEO Paula Bonner. “Having chapters around the country means that we’re again able to invite more than one-third of new incoming UW students to these celebrations.”
Badger Student Send-Off Celebrations often feature picnics or tailgate parties where alumni teach students about UW–Madison traditions, such as how to sing time-honored songs like “On Wisconsin” and “Varsity.” Incoming students can connect with fellow newcomers before classes begin, and parents are able to talk in person with other students’ families.
Badger Student Send-Off Celebrations include:
- July 18: Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley
- July 19: Orange County, Calif.
- July 23: Washington, D.C.
- July 26: Cincinnati
- July 28: Chippewa Valley, Wis.
- Aug. 2: Minneapolis/St. Paul; Los Angeles; Rochester, Minn.; Motor City Badgers (Detroit)
- Aug. 5: Brown County, Wis.; Waukesha, Wis.
- Aug. 6: African-American Alumni Association of Chicago
- Aug. 8: Peoria, Ill.; Mile High Region (Denver)
- Aug. 9: Northwoods (Rhinelander, Eagle River, Minocqua, Wis.); West Suburban Illinois; St. Louis, Mo.; Boston; Pittsburgh
- Aug. 12: Marshfield, Wis.
- Aug. 13: Milwaukee; Chicago; Atlanta
- Aug. 20: Fond du Lac, Wis.
- TBD: Big Apple Badgers (New York City)
Find details about how to participate.
There are more than 100 UW alumni chapters in cities worldwide. Chapter activities include hosting alumni, students and friends at events, such as Founders’ Days and Badger game-watching parties; and raising funds for the university’s Matching Dollar Scholarship Program.