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New magazine is a window on the diversity of life at UW–Madison

January 22, 2009 By Jenny Price

UW–Madison officials have a new tool to show prospective employees and students what it’s like to live, play, work and learn on campus and in the city of Madison.

Spectrum, published this month, is a project of the Madison Area Diversity Roundtable, a group of 16 area employers, including UW–Madison, working to improve diversity efforts within their own organizations and the community. The publication, produced by Madison Magazine, is a recruitment and resource guide for new, current and potential residents, showing the cultural diversity, professional opportunities and benefits the Madison area has to offer.

“We want to have the story of our campus community and our community as a whole at our fingertips to share with one another and others who are interested in joining our community,” says Dawn Crim, special assistant for community relations for the chancellor’s office.

“Madison has something for everyone,” says Crim, who represented UW–Madison on the roundtable and led the development of Spectrum.

The pages of Spectrum put the spotlight on several UW programs, faculty and students, including music professor and noted bass player Richard Davis, who appears both on the magazine’s cover and in a column about his life and work.

Spectrum also highlights Wunk Sheek, a student organization that offers a sense of community for American Indian students, as well as African Storytelling on Wheels, which brings UW students of African origin into Wisconsin elementary schools.

Other articles in the magazine feature UW–Madison’s role in the revitalized Villager Mall on South Park Street, the home of the Odyssey Project. The program, founded by English professor Emily Auerbach, offers a free, six-credit college course for adults who live near the poverty level. Participants range in age from 18 to 71.

Journalism professor Hemant Shah contributes a column reflecting on his work assisting media organizations with reflecting the diversity in the communities they cover. And poet Danez Smith — a student and member of the First Wave Spoken Word and Urban Arts Learning Community — is featured in an article about the new generation of Madison artists.

“Our campus community is a microcosm of the many cultures that make up the Greater Madison area communities,” Crim says. “We work hard to recruit faculty, staff and students from different backgrounds who can happily live, play and work in an environment that values and celebrates their contributions.”

Adín Palau of the Office of Human Resources will take copies of Spectrum to career fairs beyond city and state lines to help the university showcase Madison as an ideal place to live and work.

“Spectrum magazine will help demystify the idea that Madison is a cold and distant place in the Midwest geography,” Palau says. “Potential employees will find themselves reading about the experiences of people coming from all walks of life.”

Spectrum has been distributed to Madison Magazine’s 22,500 subscribers and to roundtable members. Campus leaders received copies of Spectrum this month, along with an introductory letter from Chancellor Carolyn “Biddy” Martin.

“I support the idea of building an environment that defines excellence as being dependent on diversity at UW–Madison and throughout our community. This magazine showcases how we are all working toward that important goal,” Martin wrote.

For additional copies please contact Adín Palau, UW–Madison recruitment manager at (608) 263-3235.

Tags: diversity