News: Students

The La Follette School of Public Affairs is hosting a live video chat for prospective students Monday, October 29 from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. (CST). Academic and career counselors as well as a La Follette School student will be available to answer questions about admissions, classes, careers, funding, student life, the city of Madison, and other topics.

With 52 students, the La Follette School’s 2018 cohort includes a practicing physician, the founder of a nonprofit organization, an award-winning playwright, two nurses, a newspaper editor, a police officer, three military veterans, and people with a wide range of other experiences.

Katie Lorenze (MIPA ’14) joined the La Follette School of Public Affairs as department administrator on Monday, August 13. Lorenze replaces Steve Kulig (MPA ’14), who became associate director in May.

Instead of making flashcards of political theories for my Policy Making Process midterm, I spent an hour listening to Sarah Stillman describe how she investigates stories of immigrants whose experiences can only leave deep questions about the efficacy of the policies that shape them. Certainly, her stories must have resonated with my classmates who soon were tested on how well they understood the ways that narratives shape policy discussion and implementation.

La Follette School student Abby Swetz presented her one-person play, An UnCommon Core, at the 2018 Fresh Fruit Festival MainStage in New York in July. The hour-long play recounts one heartbreaking year in her middle-school teaching career.

Alumni, friends, students, faculty, and staff will gather Tuesday, September 4 for the La Follette School’s annual Hill Fest welcome picnic. Hill Fest will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. on the beautiful La Follette grounds overlooking Lake Mendota at 1225 Observatory Drive.

In addition to their passion for public policy and governance, La Follette School students bring wide-ranging talents to the University of Wisconsin–Madison. One student, Atiya Rose Siddiqi, recently became a published author.

Nearly 20 La Follette School students visited the Legislative Audit Bureau and Legislative Fiscal Bureau on January 26 to learn about career opportunities at the nonpartisan legislative services agencies. Numerous La Follette School alumni work at the agencies in downtown Madison.

With more than 120 people in attendance, the La Follette School of Public Affairs had one of the largest turnouts ever for its annual Madison Reception on Thursday, February 1.

Twenty-one La Follette School students learned from alumni and other policy professionals during the La Follette in Chicago career development program in November 2017. During the two-day program, students visited four organizations, participated in two panel discussions, and attended a networking reception with alumni, faculty, and staff.