Students of Madison Lead the American Anti-Apartheid Movement: Madison Area Committee on Southern Africa

Though UW-Madison has had protests and civic engagement throughout its history, the era that gave UW-Madison its reputation as a “protest school” began in the 1960s. Anti-Apartheid activism influenced politics in Madison long before the American Anti-Apartheid Movement gained momentum in the 1980s, becoming one of the first communities in the United States to recognize apartheid as a critical issue that required American activism and solidarity.

Reflections from Dr. Maria J. Stephan’s Talk: The Power and Promise of Nonviolent Action

As I walked briskly into Tripp Commons—a massive room with terrazzo floors and wood panel walls, nestled in the northwestern wing of Memorial Union’s second story—I was approached by Jeremiah Cahill, an affable gentleman who was eager to provide information about the Quaker-led climate action coalition to which he belonged.

A Militant Priest’s Nonviolence: Critical Reception of Father Groppi

As marches proliferated in the Jim Crow South during the 1960s, movements also gathered in the North, protesting segregated housing and unequal treatment of Black Americans. In Milwaukee, a priest named Father Groppi—after witnessing the maltreatment of Black Milwaukeeans throughout his youth and adulthood—decided to use his position in church leadership to aid the efforts of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to achieve fair housing.

Barrier Breakers – Mercile Lee

One of the most impactful methods of nonviolent activism at UW-Madison can be found in scholarships, the Chancellor Scholarship and Powers-Knapp Scholarship, now known as the Mercile Lee Scholars Program. This program, named after Mercile Lee, a lifelong advocate for Civil Rights and racial equality, aims “to attract, support and develop the abilities and potential of academically talented and outstanding individuals from underrepresented groups.”