MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin, will you accept this rose: Jennifer (Jenn) Tran is not only the next “Bachelorette,” she’s also a University of Wisconsin-Madison grad. A “badgerlorette,” if you will.  

Tran is a physician assistant student but graduated from UW-Madison in 2020 with a bachelor of science in molecular biology.

While at UW-Madison, she was an Alpha Phi sorority sister, leading the chapter’s Red Dress Gala. She raised over $30,000 for women’s cardiovascular health. On LinkedIn, she said proceeds from the event — which hosted more than 500 people — went to the Alpha Phi Foundation and the local University of Wisconsin Hospital specifically.

The 21st season’s leading lady is Vietnamese American, and the franchise’s first Asian American bachelorette. The casting decision was announced Monday during the finale of the 28th season of “The Bachelor.”

“I feel so, so grateful and so honored to be the first Asian bachelorette in this franchise,” Tran said during the finale. “Growing up, I’ve always wanted to see Asian representation on TV. And I feel like it was really sparse. Any time Asians were in the media, it was to fill a supporting character role, to fulfill some sort of stereotype, and I always felt boxed in by that because I was like, ‘I don’t see myself on screen. I don’t see myself as a main character.’

“And now to be here today, standing in this position being like, ‘I am going to lead my own love story. I am going to be the main character to my story,’ I just can’t help but think about how many people I’m inspiring and how many lives I am changing,” she continued.

Lori Lopez, director of the Asian American studies program at UW-Madison, noted the importance of diverse casting in such a major franchise.

“‘The Bachelor’ franchise has definitely had a tumultuous relationship with race over the years, but this is an important opportunity to get to know an Asian American lead and focus specifically on the twists and turns of her journey to finding love,” Lopez said.  

Rachel Lindsay, a Marquette University Law School grad, was the first Black bachelorette when she lead the season in 2017. Tayshia Adams was the second Black bachelorette, sharing season 16 with Clare Crawley. Black women Michelle Young and Charity Lawson headed up seasons 18 and 20, respectively. However, “The Bachelor” has only had one Black lead, season 25’s Matt James. Neither show in the franchise has had an Asian lead until now.