OSHKOSH, Wis. — After leading campuses across the state through a global health crisis, UW System Interim President Tommy Thompson will step down from the role on March 18.
Those universities are now showing their gratitude. Campus leaders at UW-Oshkosh gave the former governor a heartfelt thank you Monday for protecting students and faculty through the COVID-19 pandemic.
“When I took this job, I turned it down three times,” Thompson explained to a small crowd at the Culver Family Welcome Center.
Thompson said he had never planned to get involved with running the state’s higher education system, at least not until both Democrats and Republicans on the Board of Regents wanted him to.
“When you have an outpouring of support like that, you know and this is your alma mater, the University of Wisconsin System, you’ve got to come in and do your part,” Thompson said.
Community and campus leaders gathered Monday morning to thank Thompson for stepping up when they needed him most.
“Over the last two years, you have been the wartime leader in the UW System's battle against the COVID-19 pandemic,” Oshkosh Student Association Vice President Steven Schlosser said. “With cases on the rise and no clear end or path in sight, you went to work.”
However, the biggest thank you for pushing through the pandemic came from Thompson himself.
“What a fitting day to come [to] celebrate with the snow and the winter coming back, and being in Oshkosh, and giving me the opportunity to meet with you, and from the bottom of my heart say thank you,” Thompson said.
While the next chapter for Thompson remains unknown, he said he plans to continue giving speeches to fight for higher education and the UW System.