[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 57 (Thursday, April 10, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E586]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  HONORING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-EXTENSION 
                           CONFERENCE CENTERS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. TAMMY BALDWIN

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 10, 2008

  Ms. BALDWIN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the 50th 
anniversary of University of Wisconsin-Extension Conference Centers 
(ECC). Three conference centers, located on the UW-Madison campus, host 
tens of thousands of visitors each year. The centers provide meeting 
spaces, distance education, telecommunications technologies, catering, 
overnight lodging, and conference planning services to the UW System, 
state agencies, and other governmental and educational organizations.
  Dedicated on April 11, 1958 as the Wisconsin Center for Adult 
Education, the building that is now known as the Pyle Center was the 
first constructed in order to provide a ``roof for the Wisconsin 
Idea.'' The idea embodies the belief that the benefits of education 
should not be confined to the halls and classrooms of the university 
but rather should extend to the boundaries of the state to improve the 
lives of people across Wisconsin. Early proponents of the Wisconsin 
Idea, with support from Governor Robert M. La Follette, Sr., assembled 
faculty experts and state legislators to bring their vision to life and 
give Wisconsin national notoriety as a place of innovation and 
progressivism. It was in this tradition of the university's service to 
the state that the UW Foundation built the first UW-Extension 
Conference Center.
  Today, the Pyle Center is part of an extension system that extends 
the boundaries of the university even further than the boundaries of 
the state and expresses the central role of universities in a global 
economy. Visitors perennially hail from all parts of the world and the 
center continues to be a model for taking technological, academic, and 
scientific advancements and making them accessible and relevant to 
people and institutions everywhere.
  To honor ECC's 50-year legacy as the roof for the Wisconsin Idea, a 
commemorative program will be held at the Pyle Center for the 
University of Wisconsin Board of Regents. stakeholders, and supporters.
  For 50 years of dedication and service to communities everywhere, I 
join Wisconsinites from every corner of the state in recognizing UW-
Extension Conference Centers for fulfilling the promise of the 
Wisconsin Idea. I wish everyone involved many more years of success.

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