Reckoning With Our History: UW-Madison’s History of Discrimination and Resistance

Uncovering and giving voice to the histories of discrimination and resistance on our campus is difficult work, revealing uncomfortable truths while taking stories of hate and violence out of the shadows of UW–Madison’s past.

At the same time, these acts of reflection and reckoning can also be “a balm for the soul” as we work toward building a more equitable campus community, says UW–Madison Public History Project Director Kacie Lucchini Butcher.

“In uncovering these stories, we also uncover stories of hope and resilience, stories of struggle and protest, and stories of community and collectivity,” Lucchini Butcher explains. “We have to know this history—even if it’s uncomfortable and hard to face—because it’s an instrumental part in enacting forms of historical justice and in changing the university.”