UW-Madison once had a colorful reputation as a university on the forefront of social justice through activism. In February of 1960, over 500 students gathered on Library Mall in support of the Civil Rights movement. Throughout the 1960s and ’70s, thousands of UW-Madison students were deeply involved in educating the nation daily about the perils of the Vietnam War. In July 1981, more than 1,500 students rallied on Bascom Hill in support of abortion rights.
These are just a few of the seemingly never-ending list of issues that brought UW-Madison students together for a common cause throughout our university’s history. In the Madison of today, if you were to ask a young person what we’re known for, you would likely receive a disillusioning response: drinking.
While we do not necessarily condone some of the extremist actions our predecessors have taken to draw attention to certain causes, we find it disillusioning how easy it has become for students to turn a blind eye to issues that impact their fellow classmates and neighbors.
Somewhere along the lines, UW-Madison students have convinced themselves that a legacy of binge drinking and shouting obscenities at football games is something to be proud of—something we accept as being associated with all UW-Madison students from an outsider’s perspective.
Rather than being seen as active, socially aware young individuals, now we are seen as this: drunk, sometimes ignorant and willing to pretend that there are not issues worthy of concern facing our fellow students.
This is not to say we have never participated in the Mifflin Street Block Party, wandered Breese Terrace on gamedays or enjoyed State Street on Halloween ourselves. These events contribute to the memories that we will forever cherish regarding our days as UW-Madison students. But these events should not be our only memories we have as students. If our only legacy we leave this university with is being a part of the last official Mifflin Street Block Party that got so out of control the police had to shut down the entire event, we have really not contributed anything to our campus community at all.
As students, we need to re-establish our image as being informed, culturallyresponsive young citizens eager to make waves and reform what we believe needs reformation. Wake up, Badgers.
Do you think that the reputation of UW-Madison has been reduced by the party atmosphere? What changes would you like to see on campus to restore our reputation? Please send all of your feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
