Evjue Foundation endows journalism chair

The Evjue Foundation Inc., the charitable arm of The Capital Times, has given $1 million to the School of Journalism and Mass Communication to endow a professorship.

The gift establishing the William T. Evjue Centennial Chair in Journalism was announced today and made in conjunction with ceremonies commemorating the school’s 100th anniversary.

“Mr. Evjue had a close relationship over the years with the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s journalism school and its faculty,” said Dave Zweifel, editor of The Capital Times, the newspaper that Evjue founded. “He hired many of its graduates and through the years also spoke to many classes.

“Mr. Evjue was honored to receive the school’s distinguished service to journalism award in 1968,” Zweifel said. “This professorship was made possible by his own success in journalism. I’m sure it would make him proud.”

Evjue did not attend the journalism school for a good reason; it wasn’t yet established when he was a UW student.

Professor James Baughman, director of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, said: “The Evjue Foundation’s generosity assures the funding of the Centennial Chair, which our board of visitors and faculty identified as one of our primary fund-raising objectives. The Evjue gift allows us to build on our reputation as one of the nation’s leading centers of mass communications research.”

He added that the William T. Evjue Centennial Chair is a fitting tribute to Evjue and his commitment to journalistic excellence.

“William Evjue and The Capital Times have earned a special place in the history of Wisconsin journalism,” Baughman said. “We are honored to have had many of our graduates work for Bill Evjue and his paper, including John Patrick Hunter and Dave Zweifel.”

The William T. Evjue Foundation exists because he directed in his will that the success of the newspaper be shared with the community that supported it.

The eldest son of a Norwegian immigrant, Evjue went into the newspaper business because he thought he could make a difference advocating for common people. After working at the Milwaukee Sentinel and then as the business manager of the Wisconsin State Journal in Madison, Evjue decided that the surest way to advocate for his views was to start his own newspaper.

In 1917, he quit his job at the Wisconsin State Journal and the first edition of The Capital Times hit the streets. The paper has had a long history as a watchdog and a crusading enterprise carrying on the ideals of Wisconsin’s Progressive movement. It has continued Evjue’s vision of fighting for the underdog.

He started the Evjue Foundation a few years before his death. During those years he contributed a few thousand dollars to a handful of causes. When he died in 1970, his will directed that all the proceeds from his controlling voting stock in The Capital Times Co. be turned over to the foundation.

That money, he directed, must go to organizations that best exemplify the beliefs that he championed during his lifetime, causes that could improve the quality of life for all the people in the Dane County area. That few thousand dollars of the early years has grown into millions today.

The Evjue Foundation has been one of UW–Madison’s greatest benefactors. This gift is part of the University of Wisconsin Foundation’s Create the Future: The Wisconsin Campaign.