PHOTO: Courtesy of WLUK
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Some UW-Green Bay students are taking it upon themselves to try to bridge a gap they say exists between the campus and the city’s downtown area.
“There’s a lot being offered throughout the city,” said Nathan Halbach, president of UW-Green Bay’s Student Government Association. “How do we get students off campus to those opportunities?”
Halbach and a group of his student government peers recently started reaching out to city leaders. The goal was to not only find new opportunities for students to get involved in the city, but for the city to get involved on campus.
“When I came in my freshman year, I was kind of trying to figure out, ‘What are the events? What are the things going on in the city that I can get involved with?’ but I didn’t feel like I had that line of communication or the opportunities or the transparency on what was actually going on,” said Halbach.
The students have had meetings with people at City Hall, the chamber of commerce, Discover Green Bay and Downtown Green Bay Incorporated.
“Our first meeting with them was outstanding,” said Downtown Green Bay, Inc. Executive Director Jeff Mirkes. “We are thankful that they are the ones that took the initiative of, ‘We want know more, we want to get to know people.’”
Mirkes believes the networking could lead to academic connections, internships, events and residential opportunities.
“It’s not just a resume builder,” said Mirkes. “They want to be engaged with the community that they’re in.”
To keep the conversations going, the student government is setting up a liaison system with the various city entities.
“I think that’s going to be a great opportunity to make sure people are in the know of the opportunities going on in the city,” said Halbach.
City leaders say they’re hopeful the new connections will also help keep the students in the area after they graduate.
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