Kurt Squire, a former UW Madison professor who now teaches at the University of California, Irvine, thinks that the political and economic climate of the state has allowed the town-gown divide to grow. “There’s been a really strong effort by right-wing think tanks to create a division between universities and the public,” Squire said. “The animosity is really clear — there are members of the state Legislature that have it out for the university and they don’t really hide it.”

Read the full story at Inside Higher Ed.