UW Student Shocked to Learn Memorial Union is Actually Memorial for Something

MADISON, WI — Declaring it “genuinely one of the more disorienting moments of my college life,” University of Wisconsin–Madison junior Bryce Kundert, 21, confirmed Tuesday that he had only this week learned the Memorial Union — the iconic lakeside building in which he has spent the most time studying for finals is, in fact, a memorial, and is, in fact, a memorial for something specific.

“I mean, I never really thought about it,” said Kundert, a communications major currently enrolled in his fourth consecutive semester of Introduction to Communications. “I figured Memorial was just, like, what they named it. A feel-good word. Like how a restaurant called ‘Harbor’ doesn’t need to actually be near water.”

The discovery occurred during a Thursday afternoon trip to the Rathskeller, when Kundert, waiting for his brat to be grilled, absentmindedly read the historical plaque that has been mounted at eye level near the entrance for nearly ninety-seven years. The plaque, which is 18 inches wide and cast in bronze, explains in clear plain English that Memorial Union was built to honor UW students and alumni who perished in World War One.

“There are so many words,” Kundert said, in what sources described as a defensive tone. “I can’t be expected to read all of them.”

Kundert reportedly stood before the plaque for several minutes, experiencing what he described as “a weird feeling, like when you’ve been mispronouncing a word for years and someone corrects you, but more.” He then took a photograph of the plaque, texted it to three friends, received two thumbs-up reactions and one response reading “yeah bro that’s literally what memorial means,” and ordered a second brat to help process the information.

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The revelation reportedly sent Kundert down what he called “a rabbit hole” — a three-hour Wikipedia session in which he discovered, in rapid succession, that Bascom Hill is named after a former president of UW-Madison, that the Kohl Center is named after a person rather than the cash, and that Camp Randall used to be a Civil War camp. Kundert described this period as “a lot.”

“It’s not that I didn’t know people died in World War One,” Kundert clarified. “I know about World War One. I just didn’t think they care about World War One at the place where I charge my laptop and watch the sunset and spend April 20th doing what I do every April 20th.”

He paused. “Which, for the record, is just sitting there.”

UW spokesperson Diane Pfeiffer said the University has not, to her knowledge, ever sought to conceal the purpose of the Memorial Union. She cited the name, the plaques, the dedication ceremony in 1928, the continuous operation as a memorial for nearly a century, and “the general existence of the word ‘memorial’ in the English language” as evidence of transparency.

“We do appreciate that students feel a connection to the space,” Pfeiffer added carefully.

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Word of Kundert’s discovery spread quickly through his friend group, with results that were, by most accounts, complicated. Roommate and fellow junior Mason Gruhlke, 22, admitted he had “maybe always assumed Memorial was short for something,” though he could not say what. “MemorialFest? I don’t know, nobody has ever like told me about it” Gruhlke said he now plans to read the plaque himself “soon, probably, maybe before graduation.”

Senior Paige Thielmann, 22, said she had known about the building's history since freshman orientation, but had simply never brought it up because “it was intuitive.”

“I eat here four times a week,” said Thielmann. “I’ve watched the sun set from the Terrace probably two hundred times. I named two of the chairs. I could not have told you who this place was built for until I was nineteen years old and someone happened to mention it.” She looked at her coffee. “I think about that sometimes.”

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Kundert has since made what he described as “a commitment” to learning more about the building’s history. He has identified the location of two additional historical plaques and says he “fully intends” to read them before the semester ends, pending time constraints, his Comm 201 group project, and the weather.

“I feel like I owe those guys something,” Kundert said, gesturing vaguely in the direction of what we are assuming to be World War One. “Like, at minimum, knowing what they did. Or, I don’t know, finishing my degree. One of those.”

He then excused himself to go sit on the Terrace, where he remained until dark, drinking an Old Fashioned in a plastic cup and watching the light go soft over Lake Mendota. He did not bring a book. He was just sitting there.

Which, sources confirmed, is also allowed.