Congratulations. If you’re reading this you’re probably a brand new Badger. What an exciting time for you! You’re at SOAR, about to meet a bunch of new friends, register for classes for the first time and not that long from now you’ll be moving into your residence hall. Yes, it is a thrilling time indeed.
Just a quick piece of information for you, especially for those of you from out-of-state. We are not, as hard as it might be for many students to believe, the only people who live and work in Madison. We are actually in the minority. There is one group of people I want to specifically point your attention to, though. There are 132 of them and they work in that big, white building just a few blocks away from campus. There is actually one other guy probably worth mentioning, but he’s a jerk and doesn’t really hang out here very often anymore (he’s interested in moving into a different white building).
Back to the matter at hand, though. Some, not all (but a significant amount), of the people who work in that building are not too keen on higher education right now. Those of you from out-of-state are really feeling that with the recent tuition hikes, and if things go as planned, it’s only going to get worse.
If you’re paying all that money, at least you’ll get to take all the classes you want, in a variety of different subjects, right? Think again. The newest candidate for the UW Board of Regents, the UW System’s governing body, is actually campaigning on the promise that he’ll trim the fat by cutting whole programs.
What’s that? You thought college was supposed to be about broadening your horizons, getting out of your comfort zone and opening your eyes to new ways of thought? Well, in Wisconsin, you’re sorely mistaken. As state Republicans have said time and time again, the UW System is meant to provide a competent workforce and nothing more. And isn’t that every little kid’s dream? To become a competent member of their state’s workforce?
If all this has scared you, that’s good. It should. However, it shouldn’t scare you to the point where you give up. As I alluded to earlier, joining this community means that you are entitled to all the fun that comes with being a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In addition, though, it also means that you have been endowed with a responsibility to defend this institution against those who attack it. This is not just for you, but for everyone who has, and will someday have, attended this university. And right now we are in the midst of one of the largest attacks we have ever seen.
So get ready. Get ready for your parents to cry when they drop you off. Get ready to have a panic attack when you look at your syllabi for the first time. Get ready to make new friends. Get ready to fall in love. And get ready to make memories that will last a lifetime. But also get ready to be an active member of this community. Get ready to call legislators. Get ready to make visits to the Capitol. Get ready to attend Board of Regents meetings. And get ready to show all 132 people who work down the street that Badgers can’t be pushed around, that we know how to fight back.
Have fun at SOAR, enjoy the rest of the summer and welcome to the fight. We need you.
Do you plan on being politically involved in college? Does it even seem worth it to you? Is contacting a legislator literally the last thing on your mind as you make this enormous transition? Is it too much to say that it is even on your mind at all? Please send comments to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
