We Heard You.
If there is one thing our members have made clear to us this year, it is this: you want more ways to experience the Wisconsin Union.
And we heard you.
This summer, Taste of the Terrace events sold out. This fall, spots at our Director’s Tailgates have been highly sought after and are going fast. Your response has told us something important: our members aren’t simply looking for discounts. You want experiences. You want opportunities to come together, to see backstage and behind the scenes, to try something new and to enjoy more of what makes the Wisconsin Union so special.
So, over the next year, we’re going to give you more of them.
Our goal is pretty simple: we want your Wisconsin Union membership to give you access to some of the very best experiences our Union, or any student union frankly, has to offer.
And when I say “the best,” I mean it.
The Wisconsin Union is an extraordinary organization of organizations. Memorial Union, our flagship building, has welcomed generations of students, alumni and visitors. Union South is home to everything from Badger sports and live music to dining, recreation, and gathering spaces. And just down the street, our team at the Fluno Center provides an exceptional hotel and dining experiences, along with the Pyle Center and their expertise in putting on conferences.
And while our spaces are iconic, the Wisconsin Union is much more than its buildings.
Our award-winning dining, catering, marketing, events, arts, and hospitality teams are regularly recognized for the quality of their work. Colleagues from other universities come to Madison to learn from the Wisconsin Union and see how we do what we do. And those visitors don’t just come from across the country. They come from around the world.
Over the next year, we want to share more of that extraordinary organization with you.
We are planning special member nights with Wheelhouse Studios. Wheelhouse already offers an incredible range of ways to get creative, from ceramics and painting to jewelry, glass and more. But we’ve been asking a different question: what could we create there just for Wisconsin Union members? I can’t tell you everything yet, but we’re working on it, and I think you’re going to like where we’re headed.
We’re working with Outdoor UW and our friends at Hoofers to create new member adventures and new ways to experience Lake Mendota and the outdoors well beyond it. And when I say beyond, I really mean beyond. Last year, Hoofers traveled to Chile. This year, they’re planning adventures in Japan. When I heard that at a recent staff meeting, I laughed and thought, Man, I did college wrong.
We may not get you to Japan quite yet, but we are working on new ways for Wisconsin Union members to experience the spirit of adventure that makes Outdoor UW and Hoofers so extraordinary. And I think there are some really fun possibilities ahead.
We’re also exploring meaningful member discounts and special access for performances and special events at the Wisconsin Union Theater, connecting you with extraordinary artists and performances right here at the Union. And that is no overstatement.
And we’re going to showcase just how exceptional our culinary experiences really are. Some of the most talented people at the Wisconsin Union are the people creating the food, drinks and hospitality that bring us together around a table. We want you to get to know them and, of course, taste what they can do.
We’re also thinking beyond Madison.
As we approach an important milestone in the history of Wisconsin Union membership, we’re planning some big gatherings and smaller conversations around the country. We want to bring members and alumni together to talk, listen, reconnect and help us imagine what the next century of the Wisconsin Union can be.
Because bringing people together is something the Wisconsin Union has been doing remarkably well for generations.
Today, the Wisconsin Union Directorate, our student-led programming board, creates more than 1,000 programs each year. Think about that. Students aren’t simply attending the Wisconsin Union experience; they are helping create it. They choose artists, plan programs, lead conversations and create experiences for thousands of other people.
That tradition stretches back generations. In 1962, students helped bring the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to Memorial Union. Today, another generation of students is deciding which ideas, artists and voices our community will encounter next.
And then there are the places themselves.
There is a reason people come back to Memorial Union and the Terrace decades after graduation. These aren’t simply places where things happen. They become part of people’s lives.
First dates happen here. Friendships begin here. Families return here. Alumni bring their children back and point to a Terrace chair, a corner of the Rathskeller or a room upstairs and begin a story with, “When I was a student…”
That’s not something you can manufacture.
And behind all of it are the people.
Nearly 400 full-time staff members work alongside and mentor more than 1,700 student employees. Every day, those professionals and students bring their talents, ideas, creativity and care to the work of serving this community.
More than 2,000 people, learning from one another and working together to bring their best selves to serving you.
That’s the Wisconsin Union.
And over the next year, we want your membership to unlock more of it.
Membership shouldn’t simply be something you purchase. It shouldn’t just be a card in your wallet or a list of discounts on a webpage.
It should be something you experience.
Taste of the Terrace and our Director’s Tailgates have given us a glimpse of what that can look like.
Now we’re ready to do more.
We heard you. And I cannot wait to show you what’s next.
Dan Koehn
Wisconsin Union Director of Member and Alumni Experiences
