University of Wisconsin-Madison
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Thursday, October 23, 2025
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CARDINAL STANDS WITH THE IDS
BADGERS WIN SHOOTOUTS
When administrations try to suppress student voices, student papers must ensure independence.
Three periods weren’t enough as the Badgers picked up two shootout wins against Mankato.
+ OPINION, PAGE 7
+ SPORTS, PAGE 4
UW-Madison launches privately funded open dialogue intiative By Ella Hanley COLLEGE NEWS EDITOR
The University of Wisconsin-Madison launched “The Wisconsin Exchange: Pluralism in Practice,” a campus-wide initiative aimed at promoting open dialogue and creating a campus atmosphere where “different points of view are both expected and respected.” The initiative will streamline the university’s preexisting programs with new opportunities, emphasizing the value of diverse viewpoints and civil dialogue. Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin announced the initiative Wednesday, saying that learning happens best when “people with different beliefs come together and when we, as a campus, create opportunities for people to share their perspectives.” She said the Wisconsin Exchange “brings these goals to life.”
The announcement comes after conservative political figures and campus groups criticized UW-Madison in recent years for stifling free dialogue and lacking “intellectual diversity.” “We certainly don’t expect everyone to agree. We know there will be uncomfortable conversations. But it is vital that we talk — and listen — to each other,” the new website reads. The university said the launch comes at a “pivotal time” where polarization on college campuses is increasingly prevalent. UW-Madison pointed to a 2023 survey that found 43% of students believed speakers with offensive views should be “disinvited” from campus. Additionally, the Wisconsin Exchange website reads that 50% of students nationally surveyed said they would not “dorm across the aisle” with someone who voted differently in the last presidential election.
UW-Madison was ranked poorly in the 2026 College Free Speech Rankings, with a score of 59 and a grade of F on “speech climate.” The program will host events that model how to debate controversial topics with both skill and care. The initiative will also award grants and host events, including a speaker series beginning in 2026, a postdoctoral fellowship program and other workshops and forums. The initiative will also work with the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute’s Center on Civility and Democracy to host a forum in spring 2026 on bipartisanship and productive, “results-oriented, cooperation” through ideological differences. The “institutional priority” was made possible through funding from donors. UW-Madison spokesperson John Lucas did
not respond to an immediate inquiry on which donors contributed to the funding and how much. The university’s “commitment to free expression” has been embodied through programs such as Deliberation Dinners. Piloted in 2023, the project allows undergraduate students from a wide range of backgrounds to engage in meaningful discussions about controversial issues, like marijuana legalization, abortion and nuclear power generation in Wisconsin. Mnookin has been a strong advocate for pluralism in recent years and alluded to the program’s launch at a roundtable conversation with student journalists earlier this month, saying Deliberation Dinners would expand alongside “additional initiatives.”
+ Pluralism page 3
chart GOP Dane County conservation program Bills vision for weed connects farmers, UW researchers By Cameron Schneider PHOTO EDITOR
nitrogen,” said Kim Meyer, a county agronomist and the program manager for Dane Demo Farms. Meyer communicates with farmers frequently as a liaison between them and the county. Nitrogen concerns come from planting cover crops — a practice currently implemented at all five demo farms. “There’s the concern of nutrients, specifically nitrogen, being tied up by that cover crop and then not [being] released in time for their intended crop, like corn,” Meyer said. “It’s kind of a learning curve.” Meyer said Dane County also provides funding to help farmers get started. Farms are encouraged to go at their own pace with these changes, and the program’s leaders say there is mutual interest between the county and the farm to implement these conservation efforts. “Sometimes where we see some environmental issues, it’s not that they’re doing it on purpose,” Arriaga said. “It’s maybe [a] lack of understanding or lack of other knowledge that they may not have.”
Republican lawmakers are considering two bills that could alter marijuana access in Wisconsin. One proposes to change the definition of “hemp” in turn closing the loophole created by the 2018 Farm bill that allows the sale of delta9 THC products. The other bill proposes the legalization of maarijuana for medical purposes. Co-author of the bill ending the THC loophole, Rep. Lindee Brill, R-Sheboygan Falls, said THC products are a “threat” to public health as hemp can cause long-term damages to the brain. She also said there is a rise in THC “poisonings” in children. “There has been a sharp rise in delta-8 THC poisonings in young children, many of which have led to hospitalization,” Brill said. “Emergency room visits and poison control calls linked to delta-8 THC and other similar substances have increased significantly. Both the CDC and FDA have issued warnings about the dangers of these products, which remain legal and dangerously unregulated.” The number of children who have accidentally consumed THC-infused gummies has risen in recent years, with The Journal of Pediatrics finding that 3,054 children accidentally consumed products in 2023, a major increase from about 200 children in 2017. In Wisconsin, a parent unknowingly purchased hemp-infused gummies for their children in Milwaukee in 2025, and a Stoughton pizza shop accidentally served pieces of pizza laced with THC for three days in 2024. The bill, introduced on Sept. 19, clarifies that hemp does not fall under the prescription drug product approved in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration through the 2018 Farm Bill. Under the state’s Controlled Substances Act, the possession, manufacture, delivery and distribution of THC is illegal. Hemp is currently excluded from this definition of THC. Hemp and Marijuana are classified as separate species of the same plant, cannabis.
+ Farms page 3
+ Weed page 3
PHOTO COURTESY OF DANE COUNTY LAND & WATER RESOURCE DEPARTMENT
By Jake Kilander STAFF WRITER
Thirty minutes north of Madison, Jeff Endres is amid his annual fall harvest. Timely rains and a droughtless summer this year led to a successful growing season for the Endres family, who have operated Endres Berryridge Farms in Waunakee for over a century. Fourth generation farmer Endres took a break from applying manure to his soil to tell The Daily Cardinal about his operation. An operation that has been pushing the needle on conservation practices for over a decade. He’s been seeing the benefits, but hasn’t been able to quantify them on his own. “A lot of times there isn’t data out there yet to understand [them],” Endres said. He now gets that data from Dane Demo Farms. The Endres Dairy farm is one of five participants in Dane Demo Farms, a Dane County program helping farmers implement conservation practices and techniques on their farms. The program mirrors a number of demonstration farms in Northeast Wisconsin, but is the
first of its kind in the southern part of the state. Francisco Arriaga, an associate professor in UW-Madison’s Department of Soil Science, and Connor Schoelzel, his graduate research assistant, collaborate with Dane Demo Farms to collect samples, conduct research and produce data for farmers to use in furthering their conservation interests. Arriaga said he was brought into the program to be the “scientific liaison.” Early conversations between Arriaga and farmers began with initial conservation concerns, developing into land management strategies both parties wanted to experiment with. Strategies vary from farm to farm. Several farms in the program have implemented components like cover crops and no-till farming, two practices designed to reduce erosion, improve soil health and limit toxic materials seeping into the water supply. Some farms in the program have been using these strategies for decades, while others are just getting started. Part of the program is addressing concerns those farmers have about changing their approach. “The number one concern farmers have is
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be