UW In Your Community

Statewide events led by alum and UW AVP Chad Baldwin bring the university to small towns across Wyoming.

By Micaela Myers

One of the first songs Chad Baldwin ever learned was “Ragtime Cowboy Joe,” which is no surprise considering his family legacy with the university. As a youngster, he attended the University of Wyoming Prep School (now Lab School) while his father earned a graduate degree. Baldwin’s parents, siblings, all three of his children and many aunts, uncles and cousins all attended UW. His paternal grandparents met here as students in the early 1940s, and his grandfather was a member of the UW wrestling team and a conference champion.

After earning his journalism degree from UW in 1988, Baldwin worked in journalism in Wyoming for 25 years. When a job came open to run UW’s Institutional Communications team, he gladly returned to his alma mater and now serves as associate vice president of Institutional Marketing and Communications.

“I think the university is the most important institution in Wyoming from the standpoint that it’s an engine for helping the state move forward on economic, social and other fronts, and at the same time, it helps preserve the things we hold dear in Wyoming — things like open spaces and wildlife. It’s been fun to help tell the university story around the state.”

In 2019, Baldwin came up with a new way to tell the university’s story in a personalized manner befitting Wyoming’s “small town with long streets” mentality. In partnership with the UW Alumni Association, he came up with a series of events that brings UW into Wyoming’s small towns in all 23 counties and the Wind River Indian Reservation.

“We were looking at a way to close the gap between the perceived ivory tower of Laramie and the rest of the state,” he says. “We have alumni in each community of the state who are pillars of their communities. That was an obvious and meaningful connection.”

The first state tour was themed “The World Needs More Cowboys and So Does Wyoming” and featured a standout alum in every county. The alumni were featured in written profiles and videos and also spoke at the in-person events. Assemblies were held at the local high schools during the day to help recruit the next generation of students. In the evening, the entire community was invited to hear about UW’s activities as well as to meet UW President Ed Seidel, local UW student ambassadors and faculty over appetizers.

“We’re in the middle of a second round called ‘UW in Your Community,’” Baldwin says. “It’s always positive to get out and meet with the people of Wyoming and hear from them. They love their university.”

This time, instead of featuring a local alum, the events highlight UW activities in that county.

“There are engagements UW has around the state that are very meaningful but perhaps not widely known,” Baldwin says. “It’s a chance to shed a light on those things.”

For example, the town of Newcastle engaged UW’s Center for Business and Economic Analysis to generate a report on the impact of a proposed new park. The event there was a chance to highlight this partnership. Each county has multiple UW-related projects going on within its boundaries. In Kemmerer, residents learned the age of a nearby fossil bed lake, while in Torrington they heard about a precision agriculture project. Community college partners are also invited to present at events.

Even in the small town of Afton, over 100 people turned out for the event. “There’s a cadre of passionate UW supporters even in that valley a long way from Laramie who were happy to come see us,” Baldwin says.

Meeting with residents is his favorite aspect: “The interactions with the alumni make me feel like I have a whole new network of friends around Wyoming. People care about UW. When you have that to build on in common, you can have conversations. The people are the best part.”