IV 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 308 
Recognizing the importance of the Wisconsin Idea and the University of 
Wisconsin System for the benefit they have brought and continue to 
bring to the State of Wisconsin, the United States, and the world. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 10, 2015 
Mr. KIND (for himself, Mr. POCAN, and Ms. MOORE) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the 
Workforce 
RESOLUTION 
Recognizing the importance of the Wisconsin Idea and the 
University of Wisconsin System for the benefit they have 
brought and continue to bring to the State of Wisconsin, 
the United States, and the world. 
Whereas the Wisconsin Idea defines the University system’s 
contributions to the State through assisting and advising 
State and local governments, guiding in the development 
of public policy, offering information and technological 
advancement, and researching issues affecting the people 
of the State of Wisconsin, the United States, and the 
world; 
Whereas the University of Wisconsin System echoes the Wis-
consin Idea in their mission statement, which ‘‘is to de-
velop human resources, to discover and disseminate 
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•HRES 308 IH 
knowledge, to extend knowledge and its application be-
yond the boundaries of its campuses, and to serve and 
stimulate society by developing in students heightened in-
tellectual, cultural, and humane sensitivities, scientific, 
professional, and technological expertise, and a sense of 
purpose. Inherent in this broad mission are methods of 
instruction, research, extended training, and public serv-
ice to educate people and improve the human condition. 
Basic to every purpose of the UW System is the search 
for truth’’; 
Whereas the Wisconsin Idea often is credited to former UW 
President Charles Van Hise, who stated in a 1904 
speech, ‘‘I shall never be content until the beneficent in-
fluence of the University reaches every home in the 
state’’; 
Whereas former Wisconsin Governor Robert La Follette 
played a prominent role in working with his former class-
mate President Van Hise to connect the University Sys-
tem with the rest of the State; 
Whereas former University President John Bascom instilled 
in both President Van Hise and Governor La Follette his 
‘‘belief that the University’s service to the State was a 
moral obligation’’; 
Whereas the author Charles McCarthy formalized the Wis-
consin Idea in 1912 in a book by that title; 
Whereas the Wisconsin Idea as referenced in a university 
publication later described the Idea as being that ‘‘the 
boundaries of the campus are the boundaries of the 
state’’; 
Whereas the success of the Wisconsin Idea has been clear 
since its beginning as President Theodore Roosevelt de-
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•HRES 308 IH 
clared that, ‘‘in no other state in the union has any uni-
versity done the same work for the community than has 
been done in Wisconsin by the University of Wisconsin’’; 
Whereas prior to the formalization of the Wisconsin Idea, the 
two separate University systems already extended their 
work outside of their campuses through agricultural edu-
cation and research, off-campus mechanics training for 
factory workers, summer institutes for schoolteachers, 
and summer sessions for professionals and non-tradi-
tional students; 
Whereas shortly after the birth of the Wisconsin Idea, the 
University of Wisconsin System created the extension di-
vision to expand the reach of the system’s educational op-
portunities and knowledge, specifically in the area of 
health for children and adults; 
Whereas since the Idea’s inception, the University of Wis-
consin System has worked tirelessly to spread knowledge 
and educational resources in a wide variety of disciplines 
from campuses to all parts of the State; 
Whereas the University of Wisconsin System currently oper-
ates 13 four-year universities and 13 freshman-sopho-
more college campuses throughout the State, while also 
maintaining offices in all 72 counties, thus carrying on 
the legacy of the Wisconsin Idea by delivering educational 
opportunities and resources throughout the State; 
Whereas the University of Wisconsin System currently enrolls 
about 180,000 students from all parts of the State, all 
walks of life, all 50 States, and over 120 countries; and 
Whereas students and faculty of the University of Wisconsin 
System continuously work with the vision of the Wis-
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consin Idea in mind, as documented by the system’s Wis-
consin Idea database: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives recog-
nizes the significant contributions of the Wisconsin Idea 
and the University of Wisconsin System to the State of 
Wisconsin, the United States, and the world. 
Æ 
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