Why tunnels? Weidner, the founding chancellor and first employee, explains

Many thanks to University archivist Deb Anderson of the Area Research Center and Cofrin Library for digging up the text of a speech that founding chancellor Edward Weidner made at the 1972 groundbreaking ceremonies for the College of Community Sciences (today’s Rose and Wood Halls). With so much recent publicity — including a Green Bay Press-Gazette editorial — for UW-Green Bay’s fabulous concourse system, it’s nice to see Weidner’s words that the “tunnels” aren’t merely convenient… they’re important to our mission. Weidner’s 1972 remarks on the topic:

Chancellor Edward W. Weidner, ca. 1966-67

“Contrary to what many people think, Wisconsin winter weather was not the reason for this inter-connection. At the typical university, you find a collection of discrete buildings, each a fortress onto itself. We decided that we would have to do something different, not because of the weather, but because our academic plan is related to problem-solving… So what we are doing is constructing one continuous big building, with no individual fortresses… This aspect of our physical plan has actually reinforced our academic plan and is permitting us to reach objectives that we could not otherwise achieve…”