I am writing as a recent UW-Milwaukee alum advocating for the UW-Waukesha Field Station to remain a part of the UW system and not be sold for profit. I also want to clarify that this advocacy is my own and is not affiliated with or representative of any faculty or department at UWM.

The land was donated in the late 1960s to the university by Gertrude Sherman, with the agreement and expectation that it would be maintained in its natural state. I understand it will be passed to the College of Letters and Science in July and then assessed to determine if UWM should retain it once the transition officially occurs. As of now, its fate is still unclear. The property is almost 100 acres of preserved land that UW-Waukesha and 'caretaker' of land Marlin Johnson has maintained.

One of my most valuable course experiences at UWM was being a part of the course Exploring Alternative Processes in Ceramics: Woodfire, focused on firing the Anagama kiln on the UW-Waukesha Field Station, built by Chris Benavides and Jeff Noska. The last month or so of the course is spent prepping wood, loading, firing for five continuous days, and unloading the kiln. People carpool to Waukesha area and truly work hard. A strong sense of community and friendliness develops, and in the end, when the kiln is unloaded, you see how all the hard work has paid off in everyone’s creations. the property also has accommodated salt firings- another alternative process. Knowledge of kilns and the firing process is crucial in ceramics education.

With or without this course, UWM does not currently run enough classes for students to earn a BFA in ceramics alone. Students interested in ceramics fill their course loads with independent studies or sculpture courses to fulfill their BFA requirements. Faculty do their best to accommodate this, but losing this course would eliminate one more class offering and add another hurdle for students seeking a broad ceramics education at UWM. It seems in the past few years there has been an increase in students choosing ceramics as their primary concentration, from BFA shows and my own interactions with fellow students. 

It is already a loss that the UW-Waukesha and UW-Washington County branches have closed; students from rural areas have already lost access to important resources. Shouldn’t this remaining resource, already gifted to the university at the very least be passed on for best interest of current and future UWM students? I am offering only my insight into the benefits for the art program, but with acres of land dedicated to maintaining native Wisconsin species, how could it not also be valuable to the College of Letters and Science?

Biology students of UW-Waukesha used station frequently. As you can see from Facebook page of the UW field station, events and happenings were active.( https://www.facebook.com/UWWAKFS/posts/bio-192-environmental-science-and-ethics-students-participated-in-a-lab-yesterda/1290650042766284/ ) 

Other events described involving field station include: Archaeology day, invasive species removal (and training), prairie seed picking, and prairie burn experience. UWM has archived images dating back to the 1960's of students and teachers utilizing this land for biological and environmental research and practices. 

We ask UW-milwaukee to confirm the takeover, appoint or hire someone to maintain the building and continue managing space, programming, and collaborations with schools and courses like it has in the past. UWM has the resources to do this after the closure of its smaller campuses. 

Please, UW-Milwaukee, honor the Sherman family and do not sell this priceless resource. It was a gift to the university, meant to be shared and utilized, and it has already offered so much educational value. Allow the growth to continue.