<p>I was just reading an article that Michael Hunt wrote for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about UW-Milwaukee's athletic program and about how if they could just market it better, they could build a pretty solid program. Plus I remember to that a few years ago the university did have a vote to change the name but it got rejected. I think it would be cool though if Milwaukee changed its name to Wisconsin State University. Made improvements to their athletic program like showing off their baseball team which is a pretty good program, build a new basketball facility, and maybe try to start up football again. They also have the biggest market in the state. I'm not saying they need to become an elite power but it's very interesting to think to have a cool in-state rivalry. What do you guys think?</p>
<p>I think a lot of people who go to UW-Milwaukee commute…if I recall they don’t really have many dorms. Being from Milwaukee, I knew a lot of people who went there and most of them lived at home. I think most people who want to go to a well-known school in Wisconsin (and live there and do the whole college thing) just go to Madison. While it could be a good idea, the state also has no money so I don’t think it could afford the changes that would be needed. Madison also has more, probably wealthier alumni who are probably more willing to donate to the school than UW-Milwaukee does. I could see UW-Milwaukee (and maybe some other UW campuses) building up their athletics and competing against each other, but let’s be real - you’re never going to be able to build an athletic program that’s going to realistically compete with Madison. Have you ever seen the school on game day? It’s crazy. I just think UW-Milwaukee has a different atmosphere than Madison and will probably never really achieve what you’re talking about. I also think the state of Wisconsin would rather all its really great students went to Madison, so it probably won’t try to create in-state alternatives. Just my own thoughts though, I don’t know a whole lot about the issue.</p>
<p>Madison is the best for a college football Saturday. Believe I’ve been going to games every year since I was eight years old. If this did happen, it would be a long ways down the road just thought it was interesting after reading an article about in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.</p>
<p>Never going to happen.</p>
<p>My brother in-law played on the last UWM Panthers football team. “Never going to happen” is giving them to much credit.</p>
<p>Much already IS happening behind the scenes.</p>
<p>That said, Milwaukee will never be an equal rival athletically to Madison. You can’t catch up when you are behind by over 100 years, especially when Madison is one of the premiere athletic institutions in the country measured by popularity, success and revenue. But none of that means Milwaukee can’t or won’t elevate its athletic programs and facilities.</p>
<p>The two institutions are also very different. Madison is the great land grant research institution with national and international stature. Milwaukee is the people’s urban University in Wisconsin. An increasingly popular destination campus in-state with great undergraduate opportunities and in the liveliest, largest and most diverse city in the state. It has big plans to expand its research and grad programs, especially on the technical side in areas little served by Madison or other midwestern Universities. The model to think of is Pennsylvania. Penn State is the analog to Madison. Pitt and Temple are what Milwaukee wants to be and some day will be. Whether they do it with football is an open question.</p>
<p>Two great institutions with different emphases. That’s exactly what a state University system should strive for.</p>
<p>My comments are about UWN athletic program. Good luck to UWM. The best comparison is the University of Illinois the Urbana-Champaign campus and the Chicago campus.</p>
<p>Boosting the UWM (meaning Milwaukee) athletic program may make it rival the UW-Green Bay basketball program, or Marquette U’s. Solid teams but never in the same class as flagship schools like UW (Madison). Academically UWM has its urban niche which sets it aprt from the rest of the state schools. The former WSU- Wisconsin State University- system was folded into the UW system in the 1970’s, that will never apply to a single school.</p>
<p>I still consider Milwaukee to be a blue collar city, surrounded by middle class/wealthy suburbs that prevent the city from improving economically. I don’t know where the “lively” comes from- the downtown died for shopping decades ago and there is no central area for tourists to roam. The museums, pro sports and botanical places are easily visited from the outlying suburbs, which is where the shopping has also gone. The ethnic festival in November is a mere shadow of its former self- and now in the suburbs. The ethnic areas have changed and there is no core left to visit- eg the Poles migrated from the near south side as they became economically better off and Hispanics migrated in. The old areas are merely historical references- no centers of any cultures remain.</p>
<p>Your conception of Milwaukee is so off-base and so needlessly insulting it’s quite remarkable. You are astonishingly ignorant of the city and your criticisms are absolutely banal. Virtually every American city has “middle class/wealthy” suburbs. (Even Madison.) Virtually every American city has lost its euro-centric neighborhoods to assimilation. (Madison actually never had them.) Like most American cities Milwaukee’s ethnic neighborhoods now tend to be Latino, Hispanic or Asian. Notwithstanding that natural assimilation of cultures over time, like most large cities Milwaukee nevertheless has tremendous legacy ethnic dining opportunities representing many cultures. Also, those of us who actually live in large cities don’t need or desire “central areas for tourists to roam.” This isn’t Disneyland, it’s a working, living urban community. It’s the whole City itself, with its diverse neighborhoods and dining and shopping opportunities in almost every quadrant, that we find attractive. And I have no idea what suburban ethnic festival you are referring to – central Milwaukee has so many festivals during the summer months you almost literally trip over them.</p>
<p>Finally, the University in Milwaukee, almost unique among American public urban Universities, is located in one of the finest residential areas in the City, rather than in a rundown area.</p>
<p>Milwaukeeans find criticism of our City by Madisonians funny and not terribly different in kind from the ignorant and/or agenda driven criticisms we hear from conservative suburbanites. Madison is a great college town. Enlivened in the central student ghetto by the great University but otherwise still the sleepy bureaucratic town it always has been. Milwaukee is a large, diverse City that does not have to rely on just a few institutions for its essence. </p>
<p>By the way, I have lived in both cities, I have close relatives in both cities, I have attended both Universities as both an Undergrad and a graduate student, and I currently have offices in both cities. I feel pretty well qualified to make this comparison.</p>
<p>Actually if you still think Madison is about government you are way off. Insurance, tech and biotech are major growth industries and why Madison is outgrowing the rest of the state substantially. Government is flat/declining. Compare growth to Milwaukee. Not close. Fewer and fewer UW Madison grads look to Milwaukee after college. Just not a great future.</p>
<p>Madison, unlike Milwaukee, has better areas and schools than most surrounding areas (and those are good). Milwaukee has deteriorated a lot since my days there- while the surrounding suburbs boast top schools and wealth the majority of Milwaukee is below average. Not known for modern, innovative ideas et al. The lost manufacturing base hasn’t been replaced by an equivalent high tech base. Residents, including relatives in the past, had no concept of life outside their county- similar to New York City’s view of the rest of the country. Never impressed with intellectualism in Milwaukee. Yes, I’ll be negative about the city of my ancestors and birth- thankful my parents left when I was young. White collar trumps blue collar for amenities any day as does a liberal mindset versus conservative.</p>
<p>Aside from basketball occasionally, UWM will never really be able to compete with UW. It also lacks the financial base and student body to morph into a “Wisconsin State” which can compete with UW in a similar way to, for instance, how Michigan St competes with Michigan. Its endowment is tiny, and unless an especially rich donor gives to the athletic department its facilities will always be sub-par.</p>