25 Years at the Wisconsin Union: Mark Guthier Reflects on Learning, Leadership and Community
By the time Wisconsin Union Executive Director Mark Guthier received the job offer to lead the Wisconsin Union, he knew he wanted that future to last the rest of his career. When Mark Guthier applied to become Wisconsin Union director, a title that is now executive director, in 2001, he already knew the organization’s reputation as a leader among United States college unions. During his interviews, he began to truly picture a future here at the Union.
“I knew when I was offered the position, that this is where I would spend the rest of my career,” Mark said.
This year, we celebrate Mark’s 25th anniversary with the Wisconsin Union team. His tenure has included rebuilding the campus destination Union South, restoring historic gathering, dining and event destination Memorial Union, and working alongside generations of students and professional staff. He also now serves as the University of Wisconsin–Madison associate vice chancellor for Student Affairs.
We asked Mark to reflect on those years and what has made the experience meaningful to him. His responses offer a look at the ideas that guide his work and the people who have made the Wisconsin Union an organization he cannot imagine leaving.
Opportunity of a Lifetime
The director position offered Mark an opportunity to bring more than a decade of college union experience to an organization he admired. It also brought him to a state with family connections. His wife is from Wisconsin, and the couple married in Janesville in 1992.
Mark describes it as, “the opportunity of a lifetime.”
During the interview process, he sensed an organization with a strong philosophical foundation and a commitment to students. Twenty-five years of working here have deepened his appreciation for both.
“I cannot imagine working anywhere else,” Mark said.
Leading Alongside Students and Staff
Asked what he is proudest to have been part of during his tenure, Mark pointed to the Union’s continuing commitment to student leadership.
Students serve on our governing and programming boards, help shape the organization’s direction and make up our largest employee group. Their involvement brings new perspectives to the Union each year and gives them opportunities to gain hands-on professional experience.
“They have always been and will always be at the heart of who we are, who we serve, and why we excel in all that we do,” Mark said.
For Mark, preserving that role for students has been an important responsibility throughout his time as director.
Professional staff work alongside students, contributing expertise, guidance and support. Through this student-staff partnership, students put their ideas and leadership skills into practice both as student leaders of the programming board, the Wisconsin Union Directorate, and as student team members.
Mark has also found that working with students continues to shape his own approach to leadership.
“Student leaders and student employees consistently remind me of the importance of remaining humble as a leader,” Mark said. “No matter how long I continue to work in higher education, I will never stop learning from the experiences and perspectives of students.”
Across his 25 years here, he has sought to encourage a sense of teamwork and interdependence throughout the organization. He sees the contributions of every department as essential to the Union’s work.
“No one department, program, or service offering can succeed on its own,” Mark said. “We are a mission-driven organization, and it takes all of us to achieve that mission.”
Grounded in the College Union Idea
Mark’s steadfast belief in the college union idea helps explain his more than two decades at the Union: the belief that education takes place both in and outside the classroom.
He describes the Union as a “laboratory for learning outside the classroom,” where students develop skills and gain experiences that complement their academic studies.
Mark explains that student leadership and employment help prepare students for life after graduation, including contributing to communities, participating respectfully in discourse and helping address problems collaboratively.
His understanding of that purpose has remained consistent over the past 25 years. What has grown, he said, is his appreciation for how UW–Madison’s Wisconsin Idea and tradition of “sifting and winnowing” influence the Union’s work.
That connection has given him a deeper appreciation for the responsibility of a college union to help students make contributions beyond campus.
Helping Build the Union’s Future
Early in Mark’s Wisconsin Union career, he helped lead preparations for Memorial Union’s 75th anniversary.
The celebration gave him a closer look at the affection people held for the Union and the connections built over generations. He began considering how that support could help the organization prepare for its future.
“I remember thinking, ‘The goodwill that exists out there for the Union is almost limitless. How can we harness that for the benefit of the students and the campus?’” Mark said.
That question helped inspire plans to rebuild the Union’s south campus building, Union South, and renovate Memorial Union.
Students passed a campus referendum to invest in the Union’s future, and thousands of alumni supported the effort. Their contributions helped prepare both buildings to serve future generations while preserving the history and traditions that make the almost 100-year-old Memorial Union meaningful.
The Memorial Union renovation reinvestment effort became a defining experience of Mark’s time here. Looking back, he places it alongside the enduring commitment to student leadership among the accomplishments he is proudest to have been part of.
Connection That Extends Beyond Campus
Mark’s reflections on the Union often return to the relationship between campus and the broader community.
Wisconsin Union spaces are places where town meets gown, where campus and community come together to learn from one another and build connections across generations.
“Memorial Union is perhaps the signature example around the country of a true campus and community gathering space,” Mark said.
He pictures the generations who might cross paths here, from 2-year-olds to college students, faculty members and 92-year-old alumni and Union members.
“This extends our concept of ‘community’ in a way that few other college unions can embrace,” Mark said.
For Mark, caring for a place that means so much to students and community members carries a responsibility. He believes sharing these spaces enriches the experiences of both, creating opportunities to encounter people with different perspectives and remain connected to campus throughout a lifetime.
That continuing connection is part of what has made his own 25 years here meaningful.
Celebrating 25 Years and Looking Ahead
Mark’s anniversary comes as Memorial Union approaches its 100th anniversary, bringing together a personal milestone and an opportunity to consider the organization’s and the building’s next century.
He believes the Wisconsin Union’s founders would still recognize the student leadership at its center and Memorial Union’s and Union South’s role in providing students with both “a sense of place and a sense of purpose.” He also points to Wisconsin Union lifetime and annual membership as a way alumni and community members can be connected to the Union and to enjoy its experiences for a lifetime throughout their lives.
Asked what he hopes future generations will say about this period, he said, “The Union continued to find the right balance between tradition and relevancy. It remained both familiar and responsive, welcoming and thought-provoking, and most importantly an authentically student-centered living room for the campus community.”
As we celebrate Mark’s 25 years with our team, we recognize his role in helping guide the Union through significant changes and his continuing commitment to the student-staff partnership. His reflections also remind us how much of that history was made together, by students, staff, alumni and community members whose contributions will carry into the Union’s future.
Celebrate Mark’s 25th with Us!
Join us in celebrating Mark Guthier’s 25 years with the Wisconsin Union at a gathering open to all on Nov. 6 from 3-5 p.m. in Memorial Union’s der Rathskeller and Gekas Commons. Enjoy free cake and popcorn while supplies last, sign a card for Mark and stay for the UW Resistance Music Ensemble’s performance at 4 p.m. as part of our regular Behind the Beat programming in der Rathskeller.
