“I’ve had people say to me that the most striking thing they notice about our Odyssey events is the way students are all hugging each other and us as teachers and that you don’t go to too many places and see that many hugs,” Emily Auerbach, a professor of English and the executive director of the UW-Madison Odyssey Project, tells Madison365. “Every Odyssey event is filled with energy and love.”
Odyssey Project events are historically often emotional affairs filled with joy and laughter or crying, both often coming with hugs — and none will be more emotional than Odyssey’s 20th Anniversary celebration on Thursday, April 20, 2023, 5–7 p.m. at the Chazen Museum of Art as Odyssey celebrates two decades of transformation through education.
The UW Odyssey Project takes a whole family approach to breaking the cycle of generational poverty through access to education, giving adult and youth learners a voice, and increasing confidence through reading, writing, and speaking. The program started in 2003 when Auerbach and poet and journalist Jean Feraca had an idea to develop an outreach program in the humanities for nontraditional students. The two-semester jumpstart course has continued to grow over the years and has launched a variety of programs out of the original.
The 2022-2023 academic year is the official 20th anniversary of the UW Odyssey Project. Odyssey has grown tremendously since its inception introducing new programs over the years like Onward Odyssey, Odyssey Beyond Bars, Odyssey Beyond Wars, Odyssey Senior, Odyssey Junior and more.
“I never imagined the program would grow during these 20 years in this many ways,” Auerbach says. “We knew from the beginning that we were going to provide free childcare. And we did that 20 years ago with children in the Head Start rooms out at the Harambe Center. But we didn’t know that we would expand the childcare into a program that would go all the way from newborns up to teenagers and would be much more enrichment focused rather than just childcare.
“So Odyssey Junior was one way that we’ve really grown because we started to see the older kids hanging around our classroom while their parents were in class and it seemed like such a lost opportunity if we didn’t at the same time that we were working with adults also do something with the children of all ages so that they would feel college-bound and would gain that sense of voice and purpose and hope about the future that we saw happening every year with the parents,” she adds.
Over the years, the Odyssey program has empowered more than 500 low-income adults to find their voices and get a jump start at earning college degrees they never thought possible.
“One of the things that I am most excited about with the Odyssey Project is the multi-generational approach that we use and the multi-generational impact that we know the program is having,” Auerbach says. “We will have three generations of the same family involved in our program, actually four generations now that we’ve added our Odyssey Senior program … and I think looking at the generational impact of poverty and how you can break that cycle with access to transformative higher education is remarkable.’
In early March, the UW Odyssey Project launched a brand-new enrichment program called Odyssey Senior to spotlight the incredible and unique stories of Odyssey elders. More Odyssey programs mean that the Odyssey family just gets bigger and bigger.
“I love it when alumni drop by our current class. We had that happen recently for our Wednesday night adult class,” Auerbach says. “First of all, my dad was there because he turned 94 years old yesterday and he’s come to every Odyssey class to play piano, and demonstrate jazz and different musical styles. He had turned his 90th birthday into a big benefit for Odyssey using my late mother’s endowment as well as a chance to really secure the future of our program. My parents’ story of coming out of poverty is one of the main reasons I do Odyssey.”
Thursday night’s 20th-anniversary party will feature appetizers, drinks, music by Kinfolk (featuring Odyssey alumni), and inspiring remarks from extraordinary Odyssey alumni spanning two decades of the program.
Opening remarks will be made by UW Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin and the Honorable Judge Everett Mitchell, a longtime Odyssey supporter, will also speak. Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway will be at the event to read a proclamation pronouncing April 20 “Odyssey Day” citywide.
“Chancellor Mnookin met six of our alumni on her second day at work in August. She came out to South Madison and heard from six of our alumni and was really moved by their stories,” Auerbach says. “Everett Mitchell will be another speaker. He helped us get the space in South Madison and has been a champion for Odyssey when he was the (UW-Madison) director of community engagement.”
Odyssey alumni Anthony Ward (class of ’04) and Corey Saffold (class of ’06) will also speak at the event and perform as part of their popular band Kinfolk.
Saffold’s growth through the Odyssey Project led him to obtain a degree in criminology from Madison College and eventually become a senior police officer with the Madison Police Department.
“Corey’s story has been amazing. He’s from the class of 2006. He has gone on to get his bachelor’s degree, to serve two years on the board of regents and he’s just been accepted into UW Law School starting in the fall.
“And Anthony [Ward] was in our very first year of Odyssey and will be graduating in May with his master’s degree,” she adds.
Ward and Saffold are two of the many examples of Odyssey alumni who have gone on to really change their lives through the program and beyond.
Brian Benford (class of ’07), who will also be speaking at the event, is now working on the UW Odyssey staff full-time after getting his master’s degree in social work. Benford just completed his second stint on the Madison Common Council.
“Odyssey validates our rights to be lifelong learners and to reach our full potentials through education,” Benford tells Madison365. “For me, the UW-Madison Odyssey Project is a holistically, life-transformative opportunity that serves families, children and adults who have been historically marginalized to overcome barriers, challenges, and obstacles on their paths to liberation and self-sufficiency.”
Odyssey graduate Keena Atkinson (class of 2010) will also speak at the event and share her incredible story.
“Keena was homeless when she applied for Odyssey and sleeping on the floor of a barber shop, and now has her UW degree, businesses of her own and her son is just finishing his first year in college,” Auerbach says. “The same son that slept with her on the floor of the barbershop. Her story is incredible.”
Tickets for the Odyssey’s 20th Anniversary celebration are $20. Auerbach says she is looking forward to the event taking place at the Chazen Museum, the same grand venue where Odyssey celebrated its 10th anniversary.
“It’s a great chance to meet some other Odyssey students and staff. We’re lucky because there’s a special exhibit going on at the Chazen with the re:mancipation project and Odyssey has been part of that. We had members of the re:mancipation team, guest artists from New York and elsewhere, come to our class and they worked with our current class to create a cape,” Auerbach says. “Each student created a piece of fabric to go on a cape and that will be on display, as well as their conceptions of freedom. The re:mancipation project booklet has a couple of pages featuring quotes by Odyssey students writing about the problematic sculpture that shows [Abraham] Lincoln paternalistically freeing a slave.
“At the April 20 event, people who attend can view the exhibit, and they can also see the cape that was created by members of the graduating class of 2023,” Auerbach continues. “We will also have films in the auditorium on a loop that was created for our 10th anniversary that was broadcast on the Big 10 network in 2012. And then the new one that UW News created — it’s a six-minute film about our 20th anniversary. So if somebody wants a break, they can go in the auditorium and watch a couple of films about our program.”
Sponsors who are helping make this event possible, including American Family Insurance, CUNA Mutual Group, Custer Burish Financial Services, Madison Gas and Electric, Summit Credit Union, and UW Credit Union.
“It’s going to be an amazing event. I would have to say that every Odyssey event is filled with energy and love. It might sound mushy, but I think one of the reasons for Odyssey’s success is that we genuinely love each other in the program — that includes faculty and staff and students. We respect each other’s gifts and work together to make dreams happen.”
To register for the Odyssey’s 20th Anniversary celebration event, click here.
