University of Wisconsin-Madison
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Thursday, September 10, 2026
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WISCONSIN HAS A GOOD QB?
Y2K BACK IN MADISON
Old Dominion transfer, Colton Joseph is healthy and good. Can he help the Badgers win?
Students bring nostalgic Y2K looks back to campus to kick off the school year.
+ SPORTS, PAGE 8
+ LIFE & STYLE, PAGE 6
American Red Cross urges Big Ten blood donations amid national crisis By Haellie Opp SPORTS EDITOR
University of Wisconsin-Madison “fans, students and alumni” can donate to the third annual Abbott and Big Ten We Give Blood drives hosted around campus during school days for a free T-shirt, and a chance to help UW-Madison win a $1 million prize for student or community health. The American Red Cross has declared a national blood crisis for the second time in history. With blood donation numbers falling to a four-year low this summer, donations are not meeting hospital demands and Red Cross is limiting its distribution of the most commonly transfused blood type — O positive — to ensure availability for patients in need. One blood donation can save up to three lives as donations can be split into red blood cells, plasma and platelets for distribution. Badgers across the country can donate in
UW-Madison’s name from Aug. 12 to Dec. 4, with specific blood drives happening on campus throughout the semester. The university hosted a Homecoming Blood Drive in 2025 to encourage students and Madison residents to participate in the cause and donate. They will host another round of blood drives from Sept. 29 to Oct. 1 for homecoming this year. To incentivize donations, Abbott and Big Ten drive will award $1 million to the Big Ten school that collects the most donations. Student athletes are leading the charge as Abbott currently partners with 11 Badgers, including programs like Track and Field, Women’s Hockey and Rowing. Blair Brophy, Abbott Associate Director of Corporate and Patient Storytelling, told the Cardinal many of the athletes have personal ties to blood donations. Brophy said many families experience the
need for blood transfusions or are regular blood donors, so connecting with students through UW athletes is a way to highlight the student perspective. “Oftentimes when you donate blood, you don’t know where it goes. It feels very anonymous,” Brophy said. “Sometimes having that name [and] that face and that personal connection, especially to somebody in your own community, can really inspire someone to give back and give blood.” UW-Madison won the 2025 challenge with 15,476 donations last year and looks to defend its title. They had the highest percentage of in-state donors in 2025, which earned them a $1 million Abbott grant to “advance student and community health.” UW-Madison leads this year’s challenge so far, with 3,611 donors compared to runner-up University of Nebraska’s 2,538. “I think Badgers — that Badger pride, that
commitment to competition, that commitment to community — definitely reigned through last year,” Brophy told The Daily Cardinal. Wisconsin used the 2025 grant money to expand peer wellness coaching, create an oncampus course for experiential health and leadership development and launch a mental healthfocused concert series. People 65 and over encompass almost a quarter of all blood donations, and Brophy said Abbott is trying to make young people aware that there is no substitute for blood donations. Young adults 19-24 make up just over 5% of all blood donations. “Donate. It takes less than an hour to sign up for an appointment all the way through. Your donation will have an impact,” Brophy said. “And what’s better than saving lives? Logging your donation to get a T-shirt, and potentially helping your university win a $1 million grant. It’s a win, win, win.”
‘I’m fired up’: Wilcots, Reesor discuss campus future at media roundtable have a common commitment to higher education to advance the state of Wisconsin.”
By Ted Hyngstrom VIDEO DIRECTOR
University of WisconsinMadison Interim Chancellor Eric Wilcots and Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Lori Reesor discussed federal funding pressure, artificial intelligence and an update to the Wisconsin Exchange at a media roundtable on Bascom Hill August 27. Wilcots spoke about how federal funding changes, international student visa changes and AI are affecting university operations. He promised an “unrivaled” student experience at UW-Madison with the university’s newly-announced “Forward Together” strategic framework. Reesor, who oversees many of the student services programs on campus, talked student affairs — including refocusing the Wisconsin Exchange toward skill building. Federal budget cuts present challenges to university leaders UW-Madison spent $1.93 billion on university research activities in the 2024 fiscal cycle, placing them fifth in the nation in research spending. Despite the increase in research expenditure, federal funding uncertainty for university research programs still remains a significant challenge, Wilcots said. The total number of grants awarded to the university dropped 30% in 2025, and the university faced a 17% decline in federal funding in the same period
Federal immigration challenges
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— prompting a 5% campus-wide budget cut for all schools and colleges and a 7% cut to non-academic administrative units. Wilcots said the university is “faring better than we feared,” but some trends — like seeing fewer, larger and more frontloaded grants from the National Institute for Health, the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy — were “disturbing.” The new federal behavior also means funds can’t go to as many projects because they’re offered less often, tying up funds in a fewer number of projects and limiting research diversity. And though recent grants tend to be larger, the university is still receiving less money overall than it used to
from the federal government. “If you get an award, congratulations: you’ve gotten a grant from your agency,” Wilcots said. “It’s now carrying you for the next four or five years.” Wilcots said leadership is paying close attention to funding and university congressional delegates are advocating the “importance” of federal support to Congress. “We’ve got to make sure that we bring in the resources we need to do the work that we’re doing,” Wilcots said. The cuts come as UW-Madison and the Universities of Wisconsin system are searching for a new chancellor and president, respectively, after the departure both earlier this year. At a state level, the Senate
president, Speaker of the House and governor’s position will change hands in the November election. The new state leadership will make decisions on the Board of Regents’ 2027-2029 budget request, which includes funding for a new UW-Madison residence hall and the Mosse Humanities demolition. Wilcots said the upcoming shifts in leadership were “challenging” in part because of the unknowns associated with the “priorities” each new leader will have. “We don’t know who the governor is going to be,” Wilcots said. “We don’t know, necessarily, what priorities that individual is going to bring… I think the system administration, the Chancellor [and] the Regents
In August, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published an across-the-board “duration of stay” rule, limiting international students to four years of study in the US. The rule is slated to come into effect September 15. UW-Madison is part of the Presidents’ Alliance, a group pursuing legal action against the DHS in an attempt to halt the rule change. “It’s something we are against, and supporting legislation to try to target,” Wilcots said. “It’s something I’ve advocated with our congressional delegation as well — this is just not going to be good for the university.” The interim chancellor said he “supports” international students, faculty and staff, adding the rule will have a “tremendous” negative impact not just for students, but also for the university’s ability to advance knowledge and support the local economy. “We have to respond if it, in fact, gets put in place to best support our international faculty, staff and students,” Wilcots said. “We’re doing that work, and at the same time pushing back against [the rule].” Continue reading @dailycardinal.com
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”