Remembering Gold Star Heroes Charles Howard Bixby and Philip Taylor Bixby
During World War I, when a member of a family served in the military, the family would display a blue star in the window of their home. If the service member passed away during active duty, the family replaced the blue star with a gold star, signaling to the community that they had lost their loved one. The family of service members Philip and Charles Howard Bixby is all too familiar with this tradition, having lost both men to World...
Beefeaters Keep Watch Over Wisconsin Union Ideal, Mission and Values
The year is 1945. There’s snow on the ground, and Memorial Union’s Great Hall is full of Wisconsin Union Directorate (WUD) student leaders and our staff and faculty spreading holiday cheer. A meal of rare beef, peas and bread, which is to be eaten solely with a knife, is served to 180 dinner attendees, who worked all year to provide the community with an enjoyable Wisconsin Union experience. Our Annual Beefeaters Banquet is underway....
Leadership Experiences for a Lifetime with the Jones Leadership Center
Unique and intentional. These two words describe the leadership opportunities the Wisconsin Union’s Willis L. Jones Leadership Center (JLC) aims to provide to the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus and beyond. While people may think of the Union as being a place for everything from outdoor recreation to art, helping students develop leadership skills is one of the most important functions of the Union. At the JLC, Union staff help...
Daily Scoop: Then and Now
Friends who eat Babcock Ice Cream together, stay together. At least that’s the experience of the women whose picture hangs on the wall at Memorial Union’s Daily Scoop. Meet Mary and Margaret. Both are University of Wisconsin-Madison graduates who love Babcock Ice Cream, as indicated by a 1981 photograph which shows the two women on the steps at the Terrace, eating the delicious treat. Margaret Armstrong Schueller (right) knows exactly...
Bringing the ‘60s Back to Memorial Union
Dust off your Mary Janes, and crank up The Beatles. The ‘60s are coming back to Memorial Union June 14-16 for the Madison Reunion, a party with a purpose. The Madison Reunion, a nonprofit created by Madisonians and ‘60s University of Wisconsin-Madison alumni Ben and Judy Sidran, will feature panels and performances, film showings, art, tours, tie-dye and free tunes on the Terrace. About 1,000 UW-Madison alumni will return to Memorial...
Union 101: The History of the Wisconsin Union’s Creation
Almost 114 years have passed since former University of Wisconsin-Madison President Charles Van Hise called for a student union to be created during his inaugural address to the campus community. Inspired by unions at Ivy League universities and Oxford, Van Hise originally envisioned the union as a place for students to congregate after class. “When the students are done with their work in the evening, the attractive union is at hand,...