Campus Connection

[caption id="attachment_2628" align="alignleft" width="533"] UW-L's incoming class forms an Eagle L and 2016 at the Maroon Platoon Palooza this fall.[/caption]   The bright “L” shines at the top of Grandad Bluff. It’s a UW-L tradition Lisa Butterfield, ’83, can see from the window of her La Crosse home. “It gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling to think — there it is,” she says. “I feel a connection to campus.” That connection is what Butterfield hoped to instill in UW-L students with a special assembly prior to the first week of classes this semester. Butterfield explained the lighting of the "L" and the hanging of the lantern traditions to new incoming freshmen and returning students during a Maroon Platoon Palooza event Saturday, Sept. 1 at the Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex. The night after her presentation, students could see the “L” on the top of Grandad Bluff and throughout the first week of classes. The lighting of the “L” UW-L tradition started in fall 1935 when Class of 1937 roommates F. Clark Carnes and Bernie Brown spent room and board money on gasoline to fire up the homecoming crowd. They ran up Miller’s Bluff and ignited a large brush pile in the shape of an “L.” Since, an electric ‘L’ has been illuminated on Grandad Bluff welcoming alumni who return for homecoming. [caption id="attachment_2635" align="alignleft" width="360"] Stryker Eagle strikes at pose at UW-L's Maroon Platoon Palooza event this fall with incoming freshman and other students.[/caption] “I’d like them to know it so that when they leave, they remember us and come back,” says Butterfield. “I hope they come back to remember the good times, participate in an event or help out some way.” A reminder alums are always welcomed back is the lantern, which now hangs in the Hoeschler Tower at the center of campus, she says.        

UW-L enrollment is at an all-time high with an impressive freshman class.

UW-L reached a record enrollment again this fall with more than 10,200 undergraduate and graduate students. UW-L has a total of 10,227 students this fall compared to 10,074 in fall 2011, which was also a record. UW-L has about 1,900 incoming freshmen this fall. As to whether they will stick around and graduate, the chances are good. UW-L’s retention and graduation rates continue to lead those among the comprehensive campuses in the UW System. For fall 2010-11, UW-L’s retention rate was 85 percent, the highest among the comprehensive campuses in the UW System. UW-L’s six-year graduation rate for students beginning in fall 2005 was 69 percent, also the highest among the UW System comprehensive campuses. Both retention and graduation rates were second only to UW-Madison among UW System campuses. Nationally, the six-year graduation rate from four-year institutions is about 58 percent.

A look at UW-L’s freshman class

Higher than average ACT: 24.7 UW-L freshmen have an average ACT score that is higher than both the national and the state average. National average = 21.1, Wisconsin average = 22.1. Top 10 percent of their high school class: 26 percent *Calculated from those submitting class rank Median class rank: 82nd percentile *Calculated from those submitting class rank More diverse 9.4 percent are U.S. students of color, compared to 6.9 percent of the new freshman class in fall 2011. Average Age – 18 years old. Source: UW-L Institutional Research See photos from the Maroon Platoon Palooza  Download a photo of the freshman class