UW-Superior receives $21,500 grant from Menard Center
The University of Wisconsin-Superior’s Center for Community Engaged Learning recently received $21,500 in funding from the Menard Center for the Study of Institutions and Innovations (CSII).
“With the generous support from the Menard CSII, our Center for Community Engaged Learning will work with others on and off-campus engaged in civil liberties activities to elevate current efforts,” said Jenice Meyer, director of the center. “We are also excited for the potential to build capacity and direction for future civic engagement, voter registration, and other civil liberties types of programs.”
The first use of the funding will allow students and staff to join elected officials and community leaders at the 35th annual Superior Days February 11 and 12 in Madison, Wis. This event will allow 10 UW-Superior students from the Student Government Association, student organizations and the political science and legal studies programs to experience state government.
“I am very excited to attend Superior Days,” said Madison Hale, UW-Superior student a member of the Student Government Association. “It truly is a fantastic experience. I am thankful for this opportunity as it builds connections on the key issues our community is experiencing and how we could resolve these problems.”
This summer, two new student internship positions will work to promote civic and voter engagement programs on campus and possibly in the community, in the fall of 2020. With a similar amount of funding anticipated each year for the next three years from the Menard CSII, time will be spent this spring exploring how to support and create new efforts going forward. Ideas such as non-partisan candidate forums, efforts to increase voter engagement, Constitution and Bill of Rights education, topic-related speakers, and freedom of the press efforts are all possibilities.
In addition to the gift, UW-Superior students and faculty are now eligible for further funding opportunities offered by the Menard CSII such as stipends for research, student internships, and workshops. UW-Superior Center for Community Engaged Learning will lead internal campus efforts to obtain this additional funding.
UW-Superior is now among a statewide network of more than 20 public and private universities and colleges promoting the civil and rational discussion of civil liberties and their relationship to institutions and innovation.
