Category Archives: Rotary Club of Madison

Teresa Holmes Receives Club’s First DEI Service Award

Posted on August 17, 2023 by | Leave a comment

–presented by Joyce Bromley on August 16, 2023

Teresa Holmes pictured here with Club President Charles McLimans

In 2015, our Club was the first large Rotary club to establish a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. In doing so, we were ahead of Rotary International by five years.  

Our Club’s strategic plan commits us to achieving diversity, equity and inclusion through recruitment, education, member engagement and community service.   

The importance of this commitment brought our Club’s Board of Directors to create a new annual service award to recognize a member who has contributed to our Club’s DEI endeavors.  I am pleased today to announce that Teresa Holmes is our club’s first DEI Service Award recipient.  

Teresa has chaired our DEI Committee, served on our Board of Directors, was our Club president for the Rotary Year that began on July 1, 2020, and spearheaded a strategic planning/governance task force that has resulted in streamlining and creating continuity within our club’s committees and leadership.  In each of these roles, she shared her insights about how our Club could achieve our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion goals. Teresa is recognized as a leader who diligently worked to align our values with our practices. We are confident that she will continue her DEI commitments as a Board member of Rotary District 6250 while she serves a 2-year term on its Board which began on July 1. 

Congratulations, Teresa and thank you for your Rotary service! 

Leave a comment

Posted in Club Service Award, Madison WI, Rotary Club of Madison, Rotary Club of Madison Club Service Award

Tagged , , ,

August 2: Science Behind a Smile

Posted on August 7, 2023 by | Leave a comment

–submitted by Joy Cardin

Why do we smile?  Why do people smile more in some countries than others?  And how are our smiles perceived?  UW-Madison Psychology Professor Paula Niedenthal shared some of the answers to these questions in her presentation before the Rotary Club of Madison. Neidenthal, who researches smiling around the world, has found countries like the U.S. that are more ancestrally diverse, smile more than others.  She theorizes this is because people from different cultures and countries who spoke different languages (and who emigrated to the United States) would use smiles and facial displays of emotion to better communicate and build trust.  On the other hand, in European countries with less ancestral diversity where only one language is spoken, don’t smile as much and perceive the North American smile as “fake” and intended to “sell you something”

Neidenthal was smiling as she began her presentation because the Madison City Council the night before started the process to change an ordinance than bans keeping pigs in Madison. The proposed change would allow miniature pet pigs to live in the city.  Neidenthal is hopeful this will mean her pet pig, Rudi, the subject of numerous recent news stories, will be able to continue to delight his fans around her near westside neighborhood.  

If you missed last week’s meeting, you can watch it here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_OhddgERD8&t=13s

Leave a comment

Posted in Rotary Club of Madison, Rotary Club of Madison Guest Speaker, Weekly Rotary Guest Speaker

Tagged , ,

July 26: Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) and WI Athletics

Posted on July 31, 2023 by | Leave a comment

–submitted by Kevin Hoffman

Brian Mason is the Director of Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) Strategy with the UW Athletic Department.  Under recent state legislation and Supreme Court decisions the rights of student athletes to control and use their name, image and likeness for monetary gain was established. There is also federal legislation pending with the objective of creating a level playing field for all athletes and programs instead of fifty different sets of laws to follow. He clarified that NIL cannot be used as a recruiting inducement by schools.

The NIL strategy at UW seeks to facilitate the connection between student athletes and businesses. In addition to the traditional pillars of athletic performance, academic achievement, and personal development, the impact of financial advancement is also positively guided and supported. The UW Athletic Department works toward helping the student athlete develop the business and life skills to manage NIL benefits.

If you missed our meeting last week, you can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7za6kqTh-uQ&t=1918s.

Leave a comment

Posted in Rotary Club of Madison, Rotary Club of Madison Guest Speaker, Weekly Rotary Guest Speaker

Tagged , , , ,

July 12 Program: The Life of Jim Thorpe

Posted on July 14, 2023 by | Leave a comment

–submitted by Kevin Hoffman

Bestselling author, journalist, and former Madisonian David Maraniss spoke about the subject of his latest book, Path Lit by Lightning: The Life of Jim Thorpe.  Thorpe was a gifted Native American athlete who excelled in all sports but was best known for professional football, baseball, basketball, and winning Olympic gold medals in 1912 in the decathlon and pentathlon. Despite personally enduring racism and prejudice and broader efforts by the US government to “erase” Indigenous culture and language, Maraniss felt that Thorpe transcended sports fame.  He overcame many tragedies and challenges in his life to be a lesson in perseverance for him and his people.

If you missed our meeting this week, you can watch the video here: https://youtu.be/tGk-450W0RM.

Leave a comment

Posted in Rotary Club of Madison, Rotary Club of Madison Guest Speaker

Tagged , , ,

June 21: The Importance of Insects in Our Gardens

Posted on June 22, 2023 by | Leave a comment

–submitted by Jessika Kasten

This week’s meeting was held at Olbrich Botanical Gardens, featuring horticulturist Samantha Malone. Sam spoke on the important role inspects play in our gardens, as well as the mutualistic relationship many plants and insects have with each other. Sam also presented on the resilient nature of insects due to their size (they don’t need much food to survive), their strength (many have a strong exoskeleton) and their reproductive systems that allow for millions of eggs. Sam’s calls to action for the group were to keep your fall clippings onsite over the winter and to focus on growing native plants.

Leave a comment

Posted in Rotary Club of Madison, Rotary Weekly Guest Speaker, Weekly Rotary Guest Speaker

Tagged , , , , , , ,

Lake Monona Waterfront Design: Connecting Downtown with the Lakefront

Posted on June 16, 2023 by | Leave a comment

–submitted by Joy Cardin

The Lake Monona Waterfront Design project is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create an inclusive, environmentally-focused, and economically-beneficial gathering space for the entire community according to our guest speakers at the Madison Rotary Club’s June 14th meeting. 

The chair of the Lake Monona ad-hoc committee Allen Arntsen and the president of Downtown Madison Inc. Jason Ilstrup explained the need, the benefits and the future of the ambitious project that will redesign a nearly two mile stretch of the Lake Monona shoreline from Olin Park to Machinery Row on Williamson Street.  

The winning master plan submitted by the Denver design firm Sakaki includes an elevated boardwalk, a waterfront restaurant, a boathouse, nature center and an expansion of the Monona Terrace Convention Center.  The plan acknowledges the Ho-Chunk Nation’s history with Lake Monona and focuses on its future environmental health.  

The ad hoc committee will continue to work with Sakaki and other community shareholders on finalizing the redesign over the next few months.  A final plan is expected to go before the Madison Common Council for a vote in October.  

If you missed our meeting this week, you can watch the video here: https://youtu.be/pDCwzjOakDs.

Leave a comment

Posted in 2. Meetings, Rotary Club of Madison, Rotary Club of Madison Guest Speaker

Tagged , , , ,