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heights: Green light for 'Growth Agenda' has UWGB rising What a month October has been for Green Bay’s University of Wisconsin! In communications with the campus on the budget and other major issues, I frequently caution that when things look good, they never turn out that well. And when things look bad, they never turn out that badly. But even this cautious chancellor has to admit we are concluding an extraordinary month. Here’s just a sampling of October’s success stories. • The Legislature passed the 2007-09 state budget, which includes funding to launch Northeastern Wisconsin’s Growth Agenda. • We and our community friends dedicated the spectacular Kress Events Center, the University’s long-overdue student sports, recreation and events facility. • The campus hosted not one, but two Phuture Phoenix Days, the showcase events for the highly acclaimed program to raise the aspirations of thousands of youngsters. • The Council of Trustees hosted another successful and enjoyable Chancellor’s Annual Scholarship Dinner at the Weidner Center. • We and our partners throughout the region dedicated and celebrated the opening of the University of Wisconsin Northeast Wisconsin Learning Center in Appleton. We could devote an entire issue of Chancellor’s FYI to each of these events and the great stories behind them. But I prefer to touch on each briefly and then look at them collectively. That’s because this series of events shows what can happen when the campus, community and region share a feeling that we’re all in this together – and then turn that feeling into action. Growth Agenda From the time I arrived on campus in November 2001, community members repeatedly told me that our dynamic region needs a larger university. These same people took the lead in carrying the Growth Agenda message to the Board of Regents, Gov. Jim Doyle and members of the state Legislature. When community leaders first presented the case for growth to the Board of Regents, Regents responded that they had never seen such an outpouring of community support for its university. And Gov. Doyle has said to me on numerous occasions that this community support and advocacy was key to the success of the Growth Agenda as the plan made its way through the state budget process. I will be the first to admit that things did not look good even within the past 10 days. As each day passed with no action on the budget, the governor even was talking about shutting down UW campuses. But we saw a positive outcome for the University and the Growth Agenda because our Council of Trustees and other community friends insisted on it. |
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 Whether scaling a steep face or moving upward as an institution, it’s a pursuit best undertaken as a team. I used this analogy at our recent Kress Center donor-celebration dinner. Just as, earlier that evening, freshmen Chris Seul and Jessica White and I double-checked each other’s knots and equipment at the climbing tower, and just as Jessica took 100 percent responsibility for my belay (safety line), so, too, does the community look out for us. Obstacles will come our way. But, we will push and venture and try routes others may shy from because we know the community has us “on belay.” Kress Events Center More than 250 people gathered on the floor of the Kress Center on Thursday, Oct. 18 to celebrate this magnificent addition to the campus. The event included recognition of community donors, elected officials and students who made sure the project moved forward. I’d like to first say a few words about the role of our students. They made it clear a decade ago that our campus needed improved facilities for health and recreation opportunities, campus events and NCAA Division I athletics. Then they committed the initial funding through higher fees to get the project off the ground. They did this with the full understanding that the center would be here not for them, but for future students. Their commitment set a positive tone for the entire project, and it never wavered. And what can I say about the 130-plus private donors and the state legislators who recognized the importance of this project to the University and the community? The only answer I can think of is, “Thank you.” . . . continued |
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