My name is Gina Pignotti.
I am a senior this year double majoring in Elementary Education and Communication Arts. I am from Kenosha, Wisconsin where all of my very large Italian family resides.
Since coming to Madison four years ago, I have gotten increasingly involved on campus, which I grow to love more and more every day. One organization that I devote much of my time to is the Wisconsin Alumni Student Board, one of the student hands of the Alumni Association, known around campus as WASB.
Composed of 70 students, we seek to link students past, present and future through a variety of activities that have one centralized focus: celebrating the University of Wisconsin and its alumni. As a member of WASB, I jumped at the chance to get involved with �Rolling Out the Red Carpet� because of my great love for the University and Badger Athletics.
In four years, I�ve never missed a home football game, I have been spotted in the student sections at hockey, volleyball, wrestling, soccer and softball games and my love for the Badgers came to a culmination when I grazed the Kohl Center lawn last year for 34-days waiting for Men�s Basketball tickets.
As a campus tour guide, I beam from ear to ear as I note our ranking as Sports Illustrated�s #1 College Sports town and describe the game day atmosphere in this stadium. When the time comes for me to join the many proud alumni of the UW, it goes without saying that included in my fondest memories of my time here will be Saturday mornings in Section O and late nights in the mummy sleeping bags on the Kohl Center lawn.
These experiences are what drew me to this project, which actually began nearly a year ago with a series of meetings with Dean of Students Luoluo Hong. Students from leadership groups like the Homecoming Committee, the Wisconsin Union Directorate, ASM, student newspapers, the Greek community and Badger Student Fan Club actually came up with the basic ideas behind this effort.
It goes without saying that any person who has attended an athletic event at this University knows that UW-Madison students are the most enthusiastic in all of college sports. When you get within a few blocks of the Kohl Center or Camp Randall Stadium, you can feel the electricity and excitement in the air and the atmosphere carries over inside the stadium with crowd noise, music and energy.
Through this initiative, it has never been a goal to take away from student traditions. Rather, the idea behind �Rolling Out the Red Carpet� is really a simple premise: Keep the energy - even increase the enthusiasm - but do it in a positive way. We want Camp Randall and the Kohl Center to be welcoming and, more importantly, respectful environment for all fans.
All students can take on a leadership role and be a part of helping our University become a national leader on these issues. I am proud to be a part of this move towards positive change, a change that will make me even more proud to call myself a Badger fan!