Stop us if you know this one: you’re walking through the airport, or in the grocery store, or down the driveway to get the mail, and you hear an unmistakable, “On, Wisconsin!” If you didn’t hear it, maybe you’re the one calling it out upon spotting a cardinal-and-white T-shirt or a Bucky Badger license plate in the wild. If you’re John Siebers ’78, you’ve exchanged the greeting everywhere from a wedding on the West Coast to a half-marathon in Virginia.
“I ran a 10K in Texas once, in a little town called Port Arthur, Texas, outside of Houston,” he says. “I wore a Wisconsin shirt there and heard, ‘On, Wisconsin!’ ”
Taking Badger spirit on the run is a serendipitous second act for Siebers, who walked on to the men’s track and field team his freshman year as a middle-distance runner. Injury put an early end to his collegiate athletic career, and to his extracurricular involvement. In alumnihood, he’s making up for lost time by being more involved than ever. Siebers is the president of the Wisconsin Alumni Association: Fox Valley Chapter, a vibrant community of UW alumni and friends who stay connected to the university and to each other through community service, philanthropy, educational programming, and spirited events.
Upon retiring from a 40-year career in 2018, Siebers used his newfound time to channel his passion for the UW into participation in his local chapter. He quickly rose to the role of president and has led the chapter since 2019, staying true to the Wisconsin Idea by spreading Badger pride and making connections in both the Fox Valley region and beyond.
“When I see someone in an event wearing a [UW] logo, as long as it’s not uncomfortable or rude or something, I’ll ask, ‘Any chance you’re an alum?’ And if they say yes, I always follow up, ‘Do you receive the chapter emails?’ [And] I’ll give them the link to update their contact information with the alumni association,” he says.
In celebration of WAA’s Member Appreciation Month and Volunteer Appreciation Week (April 19–25), we sat down with Siebers to learn what it means to be a Badger Leader.
What brought you to the UW?
I was a 1974 high school grad, and my father was an avid listener of any Badger sports on the radio, always. Wisconsin is the only place I wanted to go. I looked at Oshkosh and La Crosse, but I wanted to go to Madison. I mean, there were no ifs, ands, or buts. I applied. I was lucky enough to get in. … My first time on campus was the day I moved into Sellery Hall, and I had some friends moving to Lakeshore, so my parents dropped me off, and I got on my bicycle and found my way to Lakeshore with all my friends.
Do you have any especially memorable moments from your time on campus?
My freshman year, Wisconsin beat Nebraska [in football]. There was a bonfire in the middle of State Street in front of The Pub. Stores were boarded up, [and people were] ripping plywood off the stores [and] burning that. The police had set up barricades. They burned the barricades. They knew how to party [and] how to celebrate a big win.
You became president of the WAA: Fox Valley Chapter less than a year after joining. What inspired you to make the jump from “member” to “leader”?
I went to the Badger Leaders Conference before I was ever the president and met a whole lot of people in Madison and other Badger Leaders. Going to the Badger Leaders Conference, meeting other leaders, hearing all these cool ideas of things that other chapters are doing, I mean, the light bulb got turned on. I just got charged up. I was really just enthused to dive into my new role.
What did that first year of leadership look like?
It really helped that I had two former presidents [who were still] very active members of the chapter, so they were able to give me advice. Our secretary [Paula Vandeyhey ’86] has been secretary for longer than I’ve been the president. Our treasurer [Jackie Van De Hey ’83] has been the treasurer just as long as I have been president.
How does the chapter continue to keep Badgers connected to the UW and to each other?
We always say that our events are open to alumni and Badger fans. Someone doesn’t have to be a graduate to come. They’re all involved. They’re all invited. We just had a game watch for the Illinois basketball game. Normally, our chapter meetings are on Monday nights. Well, that game was a Tuesday night, so we moved it. We had our chapter meeting, and then we had 25 people watching the basketball game together. It was a blast.
Every year, we do a community service project. We’ve served meals at a homeless shelter. We’ve weeded gardens at the nature preserve. There’s an organization up here called the Community Clothes Closet. They collect donations, and clients who are referred to them by social service agencies [can] “shop” there, but everything’s free. We learned, about three years ago, that anything with a logo is always really popular, and our leadership team kind of went, “Well, maybe we can help.” We sponsor an event called Team Clothing Madness. It’s conducted at the same time as March Madness, and last year we collected 1,400 items with a logo on for the Clothes Closet. We were pretty excited about that. We’re doing it again this year.
Our chapter has given out about $20,000 a year in scholarships for a number of years. … We have what we call “sustaining donors,” people who donate every year. I really have to thank them. We also have a group of businesses, we call them “Bucky Business Partners.” They gave. And the chapter was lucky enough to have a really good turnout at the two Wisconsin Alumni Association fundraisers: Day of the Badger in the spring and Fill the Hill in the fall. If the chapter gets up to $3,000 in donations, there’s a foundation that matches it. The chapter has been very fortunate to be able to raise money for those scholarships.
You’re also a fierce Badger Advocate and regular attendee of UW Day at the Capitol. Tell me more about your advocacy work.
It’s all about advocating for the UW, whether it’s trying to get a new engineering building built or allow UW to have [bonding authority]. You get to talk to your legislators about the importance of those things, and they try to put you with legislators who are in your home area. … Last year, we had such a good conversation that it went on way past [the allotted time]. [Our legislator] was open, she didn’t have anything on her schedule, so she just kept right on talking.
Another neat part about that day is you meet in the morning with all the other alumni who are there to advocate. … Then, also, it’s UW Day at the Capitol. There are all these graduate students who set up white boards or poster boards, and they talk about their research and what projects they’re working on, and it’s just really fascinating to engage some of them on things that are of interest, and some of them might touch topics that are close to my heart. It’s a good, exciting, energizing day.
You’re also a member of the Wisconsin Alumni Association. How does this keep you connected to the UW and to WAA?
This coming year will be my seventh time [at Grandparents University]. Besides the fact that it’s really a cool event, it’s good to see the folks from the Wisconsin Alumni Association at that event, as well, like [Chief Alumni Officer] Sarah Schutt. We will chat for a little bit. It’s always nice to see those folks.
We’ve had really good experiences with the field trips and the classes, but invariably, the first time a kid goes to Grandparents U, the absolute hit they’ll tell their parents about is going to Gordon Commons and eating anything they want.
What advice would you give to current UW students or recent grads?
Stay connected. At least, make sure your contact information is updated so you get the emails. … Find your local chapter. Learn what’s going on. Maybe there’s a family picnic that you want to go to. Maybe you want to go to a game watch or an event at the art museum or whatever the case might be. But if you don’t know, how are you going to participate?
What keeps you invested in leading this community?
I like the idea of the local chapter trying to reach out to the community. Raising money for scholarships is cool, but it’s [also] having a presence in the community. It’s getting people together with a shared interest in the UW or shared excitement to celebrate the UW that [keeps me invested].
