Welcome to The Cupola Post, featuring stories about members of our Pointer family, our campus community and all things related to our Central Wisconsin home.
The Cupola atop Old Main has served as a symbol of our university since 1894. First-year students seal their covenant with the university by touching a wooden replica of the cupola as they depart Convocation, at the start of their journey as Pointers. This hands-on tradition is repeated at Commencement, as graduates mark their transition from students to alumni.
Touching the cupola is a symbol of the lasting connection between UWSP and members of the Pointer family. In much the same way, we hope The Cupola Post reaffirms that connection and helps you “keep in touch" with your alma mater.
Kim Westerman
For nearly six decades, the Laird family has invested in a simple but powerful idea: that education changes lives, strengthens communities, and creates opportunities that extend far beyond the classroom. That belief…
Kim Westerman | August 2026
John Wenger never set out to become wealthy. He set out to watch birds. That simple fascination — born on a dairy farm in southwestern Wisconsin, where a three-year-old boy stood in a barn doorway mesmerized by swallo…
Kim Westerman | June 2026
When Mike Kryshak reflects on his time at UWSP, he doesn't talk about grades or accolades. Instead, he talks about growth — personal, global, and lifelong. “Point gave me an opportunity to go to school where I got to…
Kim Westerman | May 2026
When Dianne Somers ('68) talks about leadership, she rarely uses the word itself.Dianne Somers with a vase of flowers Instead, she speaks about stewardship, collaboration, and showing up—year after year—for the people…
Kim Westerman | April 2026
For four UWSP alumni, the phrase “Pointers for life" turned out to be less a slogan than a lived experience — one that would eventually shape families, friendships, and the arrival of a child whose story began years b…
Kim Westerman | March 2026
Justus Paul does not talk about his career in grand terms. He speaks instead about people, about moments when institutions choose collaboration over control, and about the responsibility that comes with being entruste…
Kim Westerman | March 2026
When Dr. Nancy S. Lind talks about StevPhoto of Dr. Nancy S. Lind with the sun in the backgroundens Point, she does so not as a nostalgic observer peering back through time, but as someone who has carried the place wi…
Kim Westerman | January 2026
When Steven Heller talks about his time at UWSP, he doesn't start with a single class or moment. Instead, he points to the community of student organizations that shaped him —professionally, personally, and, ultimatel…
Kim Westerman | December 2025
When Mary Cray talks about courage, she doesn't speak in abstractions. The Riverside, Illinois, resident remembers vividly the day in 1965 when she boarded a plane bound for Alabama to march alongside Dr. Martin Luthe…
Kim Westerman | October 2025
For Emmitt James, BA Arts Management '15, Stevens Point was more than just a college town — it was the launchpad for a career in music. From the moment he stepped onto campus, James immersed himself in opportunities…
Kim Westerman| October 2025
When Paul Kirby walked across the stage to graduate from the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point in December of 1978, he carried with him more than a degree. He carried the profound sense that UWSP had given him the…
Kim Westerman | September 2025
For many, the journey to higher education is a straight line. For Howard Pope, it was anything but. A 2004 UWSP Math graduate, Pope's story is a testament to the value of persistence, creative thinking, and the power…
