OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — This year is a milestone for UW-Oshkosh.
The university will be celebrating its sesquicentennial in 2021.
“It is a huge landmark for this institution, and one that were going to celebrate for quite awhile,” said Lynn Kleman, UWO’s Sesquicentennial Committee chair and interim associate vice chancellor for development. “We’re gonna be doing a lot of things virtually. It’ll be a lot of history being shared via our website and our Facebook page and Twitter, and using all those types of social media mediums in order to to get the word out.”
The university has events and activities planned throughout the year, including an audio walking tour, a Humans of UW Oshkosh project, a community picnic, a UW-Oshkosh 150th fundraising campaign and a black-tie Black and Gold Ball.
“Mid-spring, I’m thinking more the early part of March to mid-March, a virtual tour where you can go online and it will walk you through the history of UW Oshkosh. But you’ll be able to listen to it and have it be narrated without actually having to come on the campus,” Kleman told WTAQ News. “Commencement will also have the sesquicentennial tied to it. But once we roll into fall, that’s when we really are going to kick off our community-based gatherings and invitation events.”
September 12th was the first day classes began at the Oshkosh Normal School back in 1871. That’s the date set for a community-wide picnic.
“We would not be here without the support of our entire Fox Valley region. Oshkosh in particular, but the whole region…Just include everybody in this celebration, because it takes a village,” Kleman said. “Our alumni stay, for the most part, within a 40 mile radius of our institution. Many go elsewhere, and we have alumni worldwide as well. But without the support of the community hiring our students, providing internships – it’s essential to our success, and we feel essential to the success of not only the students but the community as a whole.”
Oshkosh Normal School began as an institution for training teachers and educators. While the education program still has a remarkable reputation, it’s not the only thing the Titans are known for nowadays.
“Since that time, we’ve moved on to a top notch business school, a top notch nursing school. Our college of letters and science has 41 different majors that have produced future leaders – our business leaders, our healthcare leaders, our community leaders,” Kleman said.
You can check out an interactive timeline of the school’s history, as well as upcoming events on a special page on their website. It will be updated and refreshed consistently throughout the year.
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