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Save the Date: “Flocktober” 24–25
Fill the Hill is coming back — but the flamingos can’t land without you! Starting at 5 p.m. on October 24, every gift the UW receives from Badgers and friends will add to our “fla-mazing” pink flamingo flock on Bascom Hill. Mark your calendar now for this fabulous feathery tradition — and help ensure that UW–Madison remains a world leader of education, research, and innovation for generations to come!
Want to take the flamingo festivities to the next level? When you give $350 or more, we’ll send you a commemorative plastic lawn flamingo of your own.
The Hilarious History of Fill the Hill
As the 1979–80 school year was about to begin, members of the now-famous Pail and Shovel Party came up with an idea: to welcome incoming students (and give them a preview of the silly side of college life) with a sea of 1,008 pink plastic flamingos on Bascom Hill. Why 1,008? Because they wanted to say they put out “more than a thousand” and the flamingos only came in packs of 12.
In 2023, former Pail and Shovel president Jim Mallon ’79 and party member Stu Baker ’80 shared the story of how that absurd idea led to an iconic moment that is re-created every year with the Fill the Hill event, sponsored by the Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association (WFAA).