Alumni & Friends

On Oct. 18, 1967, a sit-in against the Dow Chemical Company erupted into violence as Madison police officers in riot gear forcibly removed antiwar demonstrators from the Commerce Building, now known as Ingraham Hall. Thousands became caught up in the ensuing melee, some as active participants, others as spectators and bystanders.

Fifty years later, UW-Madison asked six alumni to reflect on how the Dow protests altered their lives.

In their third book, “Don’t Call Us Dead,” poet Danez Smith (BA'12, English) brings the unruly power of performance to the written word.

A $5 million gift honors two UW-Madison alumni and supports graduate students pursuing careers in social work.

The Wisconsin Alumni Association (WAA) will honor four alumni with its highest distinction: the Distinguished Alumni Award. Two of the 2017 recipients — Robert Bergman and Kelly Kahl — are L&S graduates.

To write a book proposal on a woman known as the Marathon Goddess, John Hanc MA’83, a runner himself, spent a weekend shadowing Julie Weiss in Los Angeles — even running part of the 2017 LA marathon at her side.

Zola Jesus, also known as Nika Roza Danilova (BA'10, French), is a musician with roots in Wisconsin and a stirring goth-inflected sound that started gaining attention in independent music circles in 2009, when she released her debut, The Spoils. She recently released Okovi, a new album that was anointed with Pitchfork’s ”Best New Music” designation.

Archaeologist Chris Fisher (MA’95, PhD’00, Anthropology) risked snakes, spiders, jaguars, and flesh-eating bacteria to discover a lost city in Honduras.

“Madison made me fearless,” says Steve Marmel ’88, describing his six-year stint as a journalism major at the UW. Initially hoping to emulate Pulitzer Prize–winning columnist Mike Royko, Marmel instead developed his comedic voice on campus and now produces the Disney Channel’s kid-friendly, animated-robot series Mech-X4.

For Spanish-speaking members of the St. Louis Cardinals, translator Alexandra Noboa-Chehade ’09 is an essential part of the team. “You eat, sleep, and dream baseball,” she says.