Latest news with #UW-EauClaire
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
UWEC places in top ranking for large public military-friendly schools
EAU CLAIRE — For the third year in a row, UW-Eau Claire is celebrating their gold-level military-friendly designation for their work with military and veteran families. As part of an annual survey from Viqtory Media, UW-Eau Claire's gold designation means they landed in the top 20 percent of schools dedicated to making a lasting impact on the military community. The university ranked high in several categories, including support and retention, admissions and orientation, graduation and career outcomes, financial aid and loan repayment, and culture and commitment. Miranda Cross-Schindler, military and adult services manager at UWEC, said, 'Third year in a row ... is always confirmation that we are doing everything that we should be doing to serve military connected students. 'What was more exciting this year is that we not only got gold, but we are ranked in the top 10 in the 'large public' section, which is wonderful and great; another acolyte that we are doing the best that we can above our peer schools and just confirmation that we are listening to the needs of students. These needs change as time goes on, so we have to be reactive and be responsive to what this population needs and deserves to be able to succeed at school.' Alongside other large public universities, UWEC placed eighth overall. With 326 total military students and 184 spouses or military dependents attending the university, and possibly more receiving services, Cross-Schindler said she hopes the designation is a testament to the fact that this university really cares about understanding and serving the military-connected population. Cross-Schindler said their university has been working with staff to ensure they know what students can get in regards to federal GI Bill benefits, which ultimately makes the students that are eligible better prepared for school. 'Our faculty and staff who support the students —we couldn't do it without them all working together,' she said. 'This is a population that has academics interrupted by active duty orders and deployments. We really work as a team together to make sure the students have a seamless transition out of the classroom to focus on military service and coming back.' Based on student feedback, their Veteran Resource Center is something that is positively reflected on. As a place welcome to veterans on campus, the space has offered socialization and housed their offices for students to stay informed about benefits and resources. Moving forward Cross-Schindler said that it is their interest to keep, maintain and hopefully improve their ranking, with some of the biggest metrics to focus on being graduation, career outcomes, military support and retention. 'It is a goal for the university to maintain and, if not, improve,' she said. 'I think one of the things moving forward is looking at onramps for these returning adult learners and looking at more online course offerings so we can meet these students where they are at no matter what step in their life they are at. 'It makes me very happy and I feel very fortunate to be able to witness this first hand — not only as someone who has served in the military, but someone who serves in this role now.'
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Wisconsin university professor placed on leave after allegedly flipping College Republicans' table
The chair of the English Department at the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire has been placed on administrative leave after allegedly flipping the College Republicans' table on campus Tuesday morning. UW-Eau Claire Interim Provost Michael Carney confirmed the incident with Fox News. "I am deeply concerned that our students' peaceful effort to share information on campus on election day was disrupted," Carney said in a statement. "UW-Eau Claire strongly supports every person's right to free speech and free expression, and the university remains committed to ensuring that campus is a place where a wide variety of opinions and beliefs can be shared and celebrated." He added that "civil dialogue is a critical part of the university experience, and peaceful engagement is fundamental to learning itself." Dems Say Wisconsin Voters 'Decisively' Rejected Trump, Musk After Liberal Wins State Supreme Court Seat "We are working with the Universities of Wisconsin and the Office of General Counsel, which is conducting a comprehensive investigation of this matter. The faculty member involved has been placed on administrative leave pending that investigation," Carney said. Read On The Fox News App The UW-Eau Claire College Republicans identified the faculty member on Instagram as English Department Chair José Felipe Alvergue. Alvergue did not immediately respond to inquiries from Fox News Digital. Part-time Instructor At Fresno State University Calls For Death Of Trump, Musk Tatiana Bobrowicz, UW-Eau Claire College Republicans chair, said in a video posted to the chapter's Instagram page that she had just finished setting up a table on Election Day. Anti-israel Ivy League Student Who Sued Trump Dismisses Case, Says He Has Voluntarily Left Us The student group was promoting conservative-backed Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel and superintendent candidate Brittany Kinser, both of whom lost their elections Tuesday. "A professor came up and flipped our table in a violent attack towards us. This is unacceptable," Bobrowicz said in a statement posted to the UW-Eau Claire College Republicans Instagram account on Tuesday. "The university has since confirmed that this attacker was the chair of the university's English Department. Once again, this type of violent attack will not be tolerated." UW director of media relations Mark Pitsch told Fox News in a statement that university staff "appreciate that UW-Eau Claire has taken swift action, and we will be working with them to conduct the investigation."Original article source: Wisconsin university professor placed on leave after allegedly flipping College Republicans' table
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
UW Eau Claire election day incident
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (WLAX/WEUX) – Some students at UW-Eau Claire are speaking out after an incident on campus. UW Eau Claire College Republicans shared a video on their Facebook page, showing the aftermath of the incident and the offending party walking away. The chair of the group says at 8:30 am, they had a table set up in support of Brad Schimel for Supreme Court. They claim a faculty member at the university approached the table and flipped it after a brief interaction. Interim Provost Michael Carney says, '(I'm) deeply concerned that our students' peaceful effort to share information on campus on Election Day was disrupted.' He added that the faculty member has been placed on administrative leave while the Universities of Wisconsin and the Office of General Counsel investigates. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
UW-Eau Claire professor placed on leave after flipping College Republicans table
The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire placed a faculty member on administrative leave after he allegedly flipped over a table set up by the university's College Republicans chapter in support of conservative Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel. Tatiana Bobrowicz, who chairs the chapter, said she had just finished setting up the table outside the student center about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, with candy, doughnuts and literature promoting Schimel and Brittany Kinser, the conservative-backed candidate for state superintendent. Bobrowicz said a man came up to the table and asked what the group was doing so close to the polling location, which is inside the student center. More: All our reporting on the Wisconsin Supreme Court race between Susan Crawford, Brad Schimel Wisconsin law does not allow electioneering — defined as any activity intended to influence voting at an election — within 100 feet of an entrance of a building where voting is taking place. Bobrowicz said she explained the chapter always tabled in that location and UW-Eau Claire had approved it. The man told her "the time for this is over," flipped the table over and walked away. She immediately called police and filed a report. She said UW-Eau Claire later notified her the man was José Felipe Alvergue, who chairs the English department. Alvergue did not immediately return a call and email seeking comment. "This takes it to a whole new level," Bobrowicz said. "Not just a professor, but a chair of a department. He's supposed to set an example for students and here he is setting an example of violence." Bobrowicz credited UW-Eau Claire for its response, saying police immediately responded and campus officials took her report seriously. The university did not immediately respond to a Journal Sentinel message seeking comment. The entire incident lasted only about 10 seconds, Bobrowicz said, but it reinforced to her the hostility conservatives face on campus. She said the student body's reactions in the aftermath were disheartening, saying she heard comments like the chapter "had it coming" and deserved it because of "how hateful" their views were. "It's scary to see how much hatred there is toward us," she said. In a statement reported by local TV stations, UW-Eau Claire Interim Provost Michael Carney said the campus is working with the University of Wisconsin System and the Office of General Counsel, which is "conducting a comprehensive investigation." "I am deeply concerned that our students' peaceful effort to share information on campus on election day was disrupted," Carney said. Republican Party of Wisconsin chairman Brian Schimming retweeted a video on X showing the aftermath of the flipped table. Schimming said Alvergue "violently overturned a College Republican table on campus today." UW-Eau Claire sits along the western border of Wisconsin and has about 8,800 undergraduates. A ward in Eau Claire that serves a number of university dorms voted about 29% for President Donald Trump in November, an increase for Republican candidates in recent elections. More: Trump gained ground in battle for Wisconsin college voters, even flipping one UW campus ward This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: UW-Eau Claire professor placed on leave after flipping GOP table
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
UWEC professor discusses how civil dialogue skills are built up at the university
EAU CLAIRE — For UW-Eau Claire Psychology Professor April Bleske-Rechek, being able to engage in civil dialogue is a chance to engage with others and learn from different perspectives. As part of an ongoing conversation, one question that is asked of universities is whether students are given the opportunities to engage in civil dialogue and free expression. As part of a survey that was conducted across the Universities of Wisconsin in fall of 2022, Bleske-Rechek said the results gave some insight into students' perspectives on the matter. 'What that data showed is that a lot of students are not comfortable with speaking up on campus and in their classrooms, especially when it comes to controversial issues,' she said. 'Maybe this has always been the case — I don't know — but it has only been in the last few years that people have really started to ask how comfortable are students speaking up in the classroom on controversial topics. 'There were some pretty robust group differences. For example, students who are even moderate or somewhat conservative feel extra not comfortable speaking up, and there was even some data in there to suggest that students who are politically liberal know that students who are conservative are not comfortable speaking up.' As part of an initiative to help students build up skills to participate in discussions that may be on controversial topics, efforts at UW-Eau Claire have been on building up those skills and participating in discussions and civic engagement. A study of Bleske-Rechek's recently published in January by the SNF Ithaca Initiative detailed some of her findings, with the paper being titled 'Promoting Students' Engagement with Civil Dialogue.' Supported by the UW-Eau Claire Foundation, Bleske-Rechek took part in a pilot study in the fall of 2023 on the effectiveness of the Unify America College Bowl, a program that pairs students with different political beliefs for a guided conversation. But one difficulty for her was with participation, noting that many students she talked to had anxieties or fears about participating, felt that they did not have strong enough political opinions to articulate their beliefs or believed that they were not especially skilled at articulating their point. 'Yet when they do it, they feel like it was worthwhile,' she said. Data from continuing years showed that roughly 76% of attendees said they are more comfortable having face to face conversations with people who have different viewpoints and 75% said they place more value on different viewpoints from their own. 'I think when you have the opportunity to engage in conversation with somebody who isn't likely to share all of their views, you actually get the sense that they are just another American who is going about their business and wants people to get along, and you don't have to agree about everything,' said Bleske-Rechek. 'And just because you disagree about one thing doesn't mean you disagree about everything. But, you don't ever know that unless you choose to engage.' In another vein of encouraging civil dialogue, students have organized a local chapter of BridgeUSA at the university named BridgeEauClaire. 'The club is the 'anti-debate' club, in that the goal is not to win in a fight over polarized topics but to understand other perspectives and constructively share opinions,' Assistant Professor of Political Science and club advisor Adam Kunz said in a press release from the university. 'BridgeEauClaire has allowed students to discuss important topics without feeling the pressure of putting a partisan label on their beliefs.' As part of their model, BridgeUSA says their mission is to 'empower young people to engage in constructive dialogue and disagreement to improve the quality of politics' on their website. 'If more faculty and administrators can encourage their students to participate in these activities, UWEC can be a Universities of Wisconsin leader in helping students break out of echo chambers and algorithmic, profit-driven partisan traps,' Kunz said in the press release. With a focus on how to encourage and bolster civil dialogue, part of the work is to see how skills can be built up to encourage conversations on pressing and relevant topics. Bleske-Rechek said there is a desirable difficulty with these conversations, as having opportunities and encouraging engagement may help overcome the difficulty. 'UW-Eau Claire has a long tradition of bringing national and international thought leaders to campus so our community can engage with the most pressing topics of the time,' UWEC Chancellor James Schmidt said in a press release. 'New experiences, like participation in the Unify America College Bowl or a BridgeEauClaire event, may help more of today's students develop the skills and confidence needed to engage in respectful discussions even when they know their classmates may hold different beliefs.'
