This is the final segment of a three-part series promoting domestic partnership benefits for the state of Wisconsin.

On the evening of Nov. 7, 2005 I stood in a Green Bay restaurant watching Republican supporters yell, cheer and throw their arms to the heavens (God was, in fact, praised) as final numbers from the statewide election rolled in. The numbers did not show the victories of Republican contenders for seats at the Wisconsin Capitol or even then-gubernatorial candidate Mark Green's successful jump to the governor's seat over Democrat Jim Doyle. The praised numbers were for a constitutional amendment, the first of its kind in state history, banning all civil unions.

And when I came back to Madison, all I heard was silence. What I had expected was outrage.

We, the students of the University of Wisconsin, inherit the most radical student activism tradition in the entire Big Ten. A veritable Berkeley of the Midwest, Madison students trumpeted their opinions throughout the '60s calling for an end to U.S. involvement in Vietnam and to our country's often-racist tendencies.

We brought forth the National Guard. We badgered the boys from Dow Chemical.

Certainly, I wasn't expecting any response equivalent to the mass student movements of the 1960s. But something, anything, from a city famed around the country for its liberal strong-mindedness and commitment to progressive action.

The relatively dull atmosphere in Madison was especially disappointing considering how student involvement prior to the ban had grown and reached a peak I had not seen during my entire tenure at the university. UW students had adopted, perhaps unknowingly, a cause that was not originally their own, and they did it with a collective attitude that made many yearning for a return to student activism smile.

We committed ourselves through Fair Wisconsin and their catchy slogan ("A Fair Wisconsin Votes No!"). We did it through chalking anything and everything, on- and off-campus. We made sure people could see the signs in our windows. We did it through dorky buttons. We did it through Facebook groups.

And then, come Nov. 8, we did nothing.

I understand the civil union ban was an easy issue for students to rally around. The only impetus on students, after all, was to "Vote No." And once we did that, what was left really? We went back to our daily lives, did our daily things. Some among us kept on trucking along, exploring new avenues and options only to come up with few solutions. The rest of us, we stopped caring.

Domestic partnership benefits are in no way equivalent to the enormous undertaking of passing a constitutional amendment. Nor are they quite the same as protecting inherent individual rights. They are, however, important when we address the equality in which benefits are applied. And they are not applied equally, if you believe committed relationships do exist between same-sex couples.

With each intolerant gesture, the state places one barrier after another between themselves and creating a welcoming environment for the best and the brightest to potentially be a part of.

Students must be the first to respond to this crime. As the chief retainers of a UW education, we must show legislators we care about the quality of our faculty. We must tell them the costs of implementing domestic partner benefits will be minimal. The UW System predicts an annual $1.3 million cost and roughly half a million that would be provided by the system itself. We must tell them the UW System must remain competitive, not only for the wellbeing of its students, but for the wellbeing of the state.

Finally, we must tell them that this is, as UW System President Kevin Reilly has stated, an issue of "human fairness." That issue of fairness has clearly resonated strongly with students. We get it. This is a moral imperative, and we have a role to play.

Students can also get involved through organizations that remain active in promoting domestic partnership benefits for Wisconsin. Fair Wisconsin, the United Council of UW Students and UW's Associated Students of Madison have already begun initiatives aimed at promoting domestic partnership benefits, but they'll need helping hands. Their information is freely available on the Internet.

Even before the civil union ban was passed, there were faculty and administrators who believed in our ability to effect change. They still do, and we also have a responsibility not to let them down.

"This campus can sway the state," UW Dean of Students Lori Berquam told The Badger Herald last March. "That's powerful, that's student activism."

Sundeep Malladi ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in political science and history.