Official ceremonial activities and actions of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee nearly always make use of the UWM seal. It can be found on all significant university documents. The key elements of the UWM corporate seal are the university’s logo in the center and the years above the word “Milwaukee.”
The logo was redesigned in 1999 to represent the university more distinctly. Distinguishing elements of the redesigned logo include the different typefaces used for the letters “UW” and “M,” which reflect the diversity inherent at UW-Milwaukee, and the overlapping of the “W” and the “M” to show the connection between the University of Wisconsin System and Milwaukee’s university. The two wavy banners below the letters “UWM” show movement and suggest a continuum of education throughout one’s life. The banners also represent waves and emphasize how Milwaukee and the campus are located near water. The nimbus, appearing behind the logo, symbolizes educational enlightenment.
The three years noted in the corporate seal are 1849, 1885 and 1956.
1849 represents the era that higher education began in this state. Wisconsin became the 30th state in the union on May 29, 1848. Less than two months later, on July 26, the University of Wisconsin was established under provisions in the new state constitution. One of the initial steps to prepare students for university was enrolling young people in preparatory classes. On February 5, 1849, 17 boys arrived for preparatory classes in space borrowed from the Madison Female Academy. This date is referred to in Wisconsin education as Founders Day. Then, in autumn 1850, the first University of Wisconsin freshman class assembled in Madison for first-year instruction as part of a four-year college curriculum.
1885 denotes the beginnings of public higher education in Milwaukee at the Milwaukee State Normal School. The Wisconsin Legislature in 1880 approved expanding higher education by establishing nine normal schools around the state. The first students in Milwaukee were admitted in 1885. In the beginning, curriculum was limited to a two-year teacher-training program. As its educational mission evolved, the school’s name changed. It became the Milwaukee State Teachers College in 1927 and the Wisconsin State College, Milwaukee, in 1951.
1956 signals the beginning of the modern era of public higher education in Milwaukee. During the late 1940s and early 1950s, many proposals to expand higher education offerings in Milwaukee were considered. The successful proposal approved in 1955 combined the previously mentioned Wisconsin State College, Milwaukee, and the Milwaukee office of the University Extension Center, an auxiliary of the University of Wisconsin in Madison. The new university was considered a part of the University of Wisconsin and classes at the new University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee began in the fall of 1956.