UW-Madison plans tribute to student Adkins

Shanica Adkins, the late University of Wisconsin–Madison senior killed in a Dec. 31 auto accident, is being remembered as a kind and passionate young woman who was dedicated to helping others.

All students, staff, and faculty are invited to a tribute organized by the School of Social Work from 10-11:30 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 25, at Tripp Commons in Memorial Union, 800 Langdon St.

Adkins was killed in Milwaukee during the early morning hours of Dec. 31 when a driver fleeing Milwaukee police struck the car in which she was riding.

“Shanica was a very bright and compassionate young woman who took great pride in her work,” says Marsha Mailick Seltzer, professor and director of the Waisman Center, where Adkins worked with researchers studying challenges facing families of adolescents and adults with developmental disabilities such as autism, Down syndrome and Fragile X syndrome.

She was first in her family to attend college and planned to pursue a master’s degree in social work after graduating from UW–Madison in May with a double major in social work and sociology.

Self-directed and determined, Adkins was committed to helping others and serving persons with disabilities.

She pursued her passion through several channels, working and volunteering with individuals with special needs at all ages: working with children at the Boys and Girls Club; tutoring middle-school students in the Pre-College Enrichment Opportunity Program for Learning Excellence (PEOPLE); advising peers through UW–Madison CeO (formerly TRIO) student support services; and assisting residents at the Bradley Rehabilitation Center in Milwaukee.

As part of her social-work training, this year she was completing a field placement at the Gateway Community Support Program, working with individuals with severe and persistent mental illness.

Adkins came to the university as a PEOPLE scholar and was actively involved in the program on campus. In addition to her volunteer work as a tutor for middle-school students in PEOPLE, she was a dorm counselor in the summer for high school students in PEOPLE.

“Shanica knew that education was the key to achieving her dream of becoming a social worker,” says Jacqueline DeWalt, director of PEOPLE. “She was not only interested in serving as a role model for her siblings and peers, she also truly wanted to affect change in her community for those less fortunate: the mentally ill. She was a living testament of the underlying philosophy of the PEOPLE program, to lift as we climb, and a great representative of the excellence of students within our program. We will truly miss her.”

Family was also very important to Adkins, DeWalt adds. She often spoke of her family and how important their support and encouragement was to her success at the university. She loved to sing and was a member of the University Gospel Choir.

For more information about the tribute, contact Belinda Velazquez in the School of Social Work, 608-263-3660, bvelazqu@wisc.edu.