University of Wisconsin-Madison
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Thursday, October 9, 2025
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‘ONE, WE WANT MORE’
PRO-PALESTINE IS PRO-HUMAN
Wisconsin men’s hockey traditions have shaped the program for more than five decades.
The world is ignoring the eradication of the Palestinian people. As students, we must not.
+ SPORTS, PAGE 4
+ OPINION, PAGE 5
UW-Madison to keep ethnic studies requirement By Alaina Walsh ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR
University of Wisconsin-Madison officials said the university’s ethnic studies requirement will remain in place Wednesday, as a plan to standardize required courses across the University of Wisconsin System left the requirement in ambiguity. The proposal, tied to reforms approved in the state’s 2025-27 biennial budget, created six broad categories of courses shared across the system’s universities aiming to ease transferring between UW System schools. While an ethnic or cultural studies requirement does not fit under any of the categories, UW-Madison leaders said they will preserve theirs. “The Draft Regent Policy Document does not change or require changes to UW-Madison’s general education, school/college or major
requirements,” John Lucas, UW-Madison spokesperson said in a statement to The Daily Cardinal. “We have heard the concerns about the future of the ethnic studies requirement. There is no current plan to change it from UW-Madison; it’s been an important part of the education we provide.” The UW System does not have a systemwide ethnic studies requirement because of policies the Board of Regents approved in 2011, though all UW campuses independently offer a similar requirement. UW-Madison first adopted a formal requirement in 1989 at the request of students after a report into minority affairs. Much of the recent worry stemmed from incomplete interpretations of the FAQ circulated by the Associated Students of Madison and The Badger Herald. Both suggested
UW-Madison could be forced to drop its ethnic studies requirement, sparking outrage from students and faculty who saw the change as a rollback of hard-fought gains. When asked why ASM believed the requirement would end under Act 15, ASM Chair Landis Varughese told the Cardinal a FAQ posted by the UW System indicated ethnic studies would not fit under the new core requirements. “While courses that were previously considered under these initiatives may be mapped to one of the six broad categories, there will not be an ethnic studies or diversity course requirement,” the FAQ read. United Faculty and Academic Staff (UFAS) urged members to share their “outrage” and voice their contempt with the decision in an Instagram post Sunday.
New Dane County budget freezes hiring, cuts spending
COURTESTY OF MELISSA AGARD
By Zoey Elwood COPY CHIEF
Dane County Executive Melissa Agard announced plans to institute a hiring freeze on non-essential vacancies and cut spending in her first Executive Budget on Oct. 1. The budget totals $903.6 million — a 3% decrease from 2025. The budget aims to close a $31 million structural deficit caused by increased costs and declining or flat revenues, according to a statement from Agard. The budget includes an operating budget of $825.1 million and a capital budget of $78.5 million, a 30% decrease from the previous year. “Certainly, this is not the budget that I dreamed of putting together as I was a candidate… thinking about $31 million worth of cuts,” Agard told The Daily Cardinal. “At the end of the day, it’s about delivering high quality services to people in Dane County and ensuring that people can be very proud of their government at a time when there’s a lot of skepticism about government.” This is the second year in a row the
county has proposed a downturn in spending, after a more than $300 million increase from 2019 to 2025. “I was elected to make hard choices, and that truly was a reality with this budget,” Agard told The Daily Cardinal. “My goals were to make sure that we continue to protect and deliver high quality core services, that we preserve the jobs of county employees and that we ensure that Dane County continues to be strong.” To address the deficit, the budget combines spending cuts with strategic revenue growth. County departments were directed to reduce their budgets by 4%, saving nearly $14 million. Additionally, the county predicts savings of around $1 million by eliminating more than 50 vacant positions, implementing a temporary 1% wage reduction in 2026 and instituting a hiring freeze, while offering voluntary unpaid leave and an early retiring incentive program. Agard has already publicly announced the hiring freeze. By statute, she will go
before the County Board in October to inform them of her plans to implement it. “With the amount of growth that we have seen in the county when it comes to positions that people hold — and with the uncertainty at the federal level — it is important that we continue to hold ourselves accountable and are good stewards of the tax dollars that are entrusted to us to invest back into Dane County,” Agard told the Cardinal. Agard emphasized the hiring freeze is especially important going forward, given the uncertainty of the next three years under the Donald Trump Administration. She said thoughtful constrictions and management of the budget are crucial, citing that roughly 10% of the revenue Dane County depends on is from federal funding. The budget does increase funding and support in some areas. It would increase revenue for Badger Prairie operations, a health care center offering services and care to individuals with disabilities, by $4.2 million. Continue reading @ dailycardinal.com
The African American Studies Department at UW-Madison sent out a newsletter on Tuesday asking supporters of the ethnic studies requirement to fill out a testimonial to be considered in decision making. “We know how important it is for all students to have access to representative and complex histories of the United States and its people. We therefore ask you to stand by us in protecting the Ethnic Studies requirement,” the department said in the newsletter. Administrators clarified the draft does not eliminate the requirement at UW-Madison, and the Board of Regents does not prohibit campuses from keeping such courses. Mark Pitsch, director of media relations for the UW System, said the proposal is designed to improve transferability across campuses. Continue reading @dailycardinal.com
Government shutdown impacts UW By Adelyn Benzinger STAFF WRITER
Some University of WisconsinMadison research will be affected due to the federal government shutdown, according to a message from both the Vice Chancellor of Finance and Administration and of Research. UW-Madison ranked sixth nationally for research expenditure in 2024 and is at risk for delayed research project funding after the shutdown. Federally sponsored or funded research projects in progress have been told to “continue with their research, unless they receive other directives or their granting agencies issue stopwork orders requiring that they pause their work,” Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration Rob Cramer and Vice Chancellor for Research Dorota Grejner-Brzezinska said in the message. Although research will continue, federal employees are typically unpaid during government shutdowns, so federal employees who assist may be unable, leading to potentially delayed renewals, limited phone calls and paused grant approvals and contracts. The university said it has been preparing for the possibility of a shutdown and has “planned for multiple scenarios, including the risk that the shutdown lasts for multiple weeks,” according to Cramer and Grejner-Brzezinska. Scholarships and student loans will be disbursed with no disruptions, and student loan borrowers will still be required to make payments on their debt, according to The National Conference of State Legislatures. Overall, students shouldn’t see any differences when it comes to tuition funding and financial aid as this funding is typically disbursed in the summer, so the timing of the shutdown means the funding will remain untouched.
+ Shutdown page 3
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”