University of Wisconsin-Madison Interim Chancellor Eric Wilcots and faculty welcomed just under 6,000 first-year and new transfer students to campus at the university’s annual convocation on Sept. 1 at the Kohl Center.
Each faculty speaker highlighted one of UW-Madison’s four community commitments: practicing civility, fostering connection and community, embracing complexity and providing opportunities for growth and success. Educational psychology professor and special advisor to the provost for community belonging and engagement Percival Matthews developed the commitments as part of UW-Madison’s BadgerWay strategic framework, which launched in April 2026.
Of over 75,000 applicants representing all 50 U.S. states, all 72 Wisconsin counties and more than 130 countries, nearly 10,000 entered UW-Madison this year — including about 8,600 first-year students and around 1,100 new transfer students.
As students trickled in from the Chancellor’s Welcome Lunch on the Sellery basketball courts, the UW Marching Band kept those already seated entertained with pieces like “Hey Baby,” “Mr. Brightside,” “If You Want to Be a Badger” and “On Wisconsin.” Redefined A Cappella, a student organization, warmed up with “This Love” and “Work Song,” then led the national anthem.
Students heard speeches from Wilcots, Matthews, Provost John Zumbrunnen, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Lori Reesor and Azi Fanale, a junior majoring in political science, philosophy and international studies.
Zumbrunnen spoke about UW-Madison’s educational breadth. The university has over 230 majors and certificates to choose from and more schools and colleges than all but six other universities in the country.
“You'll build your skills in critical thinking, effective communication and careful listening: skills that will prepare you to succeed in a complex world much better than ChatGPT, and maybe even better than Claude Mythos,” Zumbrunnen said.
Wilcots encouraged students to practice intellectual curiosity and humility when engaging with others “who see the world differently than you do.”
“We want you to have the skills to challenge each other's ideas without tearing each other down,” he said.
Fanale’s speech used the Allegory of the Cave — a thought experiment in which a cave-dweller sees the light of the world for the first time — as a metaphor for the UW-Madison educational experience. Fanale, who read the story in her Philosophy 430: History of Ancient Philosophy course last year, encouraged students to belong to, work for and leave behind something bigger than themselves during their time at the university.
Fanale told The Cardinal her experience navigating friction on UW-Madison’s campus helped her this summer when she worked at a bipartisan lobbying firm in Washington, DC.
“It was super interesting to view issues and different legislation being passed from across-the-aisle viewpoints,” she said. “The skills that I've learned in [Letters & Science] but also UW-Madison as a whole have really helped me… it's so important what we learn, but also [what is] just as important, maybe even more, is: how can we use that to help other people in our daily lives?”
Nav Brar, a supply chain management major in the Business school, told the Cardinal he’s looking forward to attending college — a dream his mother sacrificed to raise him when she gave birth at 18.
I actually didn't want to go to college,” Brar said. “But [my mom] always told me how she dreamt of going to college. I knew I had this opportunity, so even though sometimes it's hard — classes are hard, it's long hours, a lot of walking — I remember what I do it for, and that means the world to me.”
Ope Adeniyan, a freshman from Illinois studying computer engineering, is one of nearly 1,700 incoming engineering students — UW-Madison’s largest engineering class in history. He told the Cardinal he was drawn to a new environment where he only knew two people attending, along with the university’s world-class engineering programs and a location that was “far from home, but wasn't too far.”
“At Convocation, I saw all these professors [and] deans, all these people who were students just like me, and they're in all these high-up positions,” Adeniyan said. “The future looks amazing.”
Dax Anderson, a transfer student from UW-Whitewater majoring in consumer behavior and marketing studies, told the Cardinal he looks forward to meeting new people and exploring different opportunities, though he wished more of his math credits had transferred as classes rather than electives.
“I loved that there were different types of people up there. It wasn't just old white men with gray hair, you know what I mean?” Anderson said at the end of the ceremony. “That’s what I’m going to be, but I want to hear what other people have to say. I guess I didn't like that there wasn't free food after because I'm really hungry right now. But that would be a lot of food to handle, so I understand.”
Nabeel Ahmed, an incoming pre-law legal studies major, was born in Lahore, Pakistan. He left when he was seven years old, and his family moved to Oshkosh around five years ago.
“The reason why I chose UW-Madison is because it's close to my home,” Ahmed said. “I'm really close with my family, and I'm able to visit my family quite often. It's a great school [with] great opportunities as well.”
Badger Buddies wearing purple shirts seated students and handed out posters for The W Project. One of them was Samantha Baniel, a UW-Madison psychology major and teaching fellow for Counseling Psychology 125: The Wisconsin Experience Seminar.
“I really enjoy being at Convocation and seeing how excited all the new Badgers are,” Baniel said. “I don't remember much of my experience from Convocation, but I know it was very well run… so I'm happy to step into that role for new students.”
The ceremony also included a video called “Our Shared Future” acknowledging UW-Madison’s footprint on ancestral land and the “Seed by Seed” beaded artwork on Bascom Hill, which Zumbrunnen said will return to campus in Native November.
Students received copies of “Custodians of Wonder” by Eliot Stein for this year’s “Go Big Read”, along with posters of The W Project. Before students left they sang a rendition of “Varsity” by the UW-Madison Marching Band — the new students’ induction to a lifelong tradition.
They also showed off their Badger 2026 pins; this is the second year the university has distributed class pins, Wilcots said.
“Whatever field we enter, be it medicine, engineering, education, business, the arts or elsewhere, we will have opportunities to improve the lives of others,” Fanale said in her speech. “That impact does not begin after graduation. It begins right here, right now.”
Sonia Bendre is the campus news editor for The Daily Cardinal. You can reach her at sonia.bendre@dailycardinal.com.
