Nothing says community like college.
Marquette President Dr. Kimo Ah Yun and Women’s Basketball Coach Cara Consuegra recently joined The Upswing host Jeff Sherman.
Consuegra talked about the “boomerang” effect of being from southeastern Wisconsin, going away and finding success and coming back to lead one of Marquette’s basketball programs, being named 2025’s Big East Co-Coach of the Year and reviewing her first year in 2025’s NCAA Tournament with Marquette.
Dr. Ah Yun told WTMJ about the importance of retention in Marquette’s sports as well as academics and the “secret sauce” and their momentum towards the May 1st deadline for college applications. He said the last decade was at an all-time high for applications. The President said 1,100 applications of their target 1,950 first-time students for the next school year but said “most of the decisions are made in the last two days” before the deadline.
The Marquette President also emphasized the importance of the university’s Catholic Jesuit education and how it brings opportunities for potential students to be “change-makers”.
Coach Consuegra weighed in with similar sentiment in bringing “high character young women” for the basketball program.
“We stick to the basics and understand who we are,” said Dr. Ah Yun when talking about the recent uncertainty of university funding.
In regards to Name Image Likeness or NIL, Cara said “students should be paid” but understood that it should not be the main motivator for attending Marquette.
Dr. Ah Yun also talked about teaming up with the Medical College of Wisconsin and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in preparing for an utilizing artificial intelligence.
Finally, when asked to define success by Jeff, Coach Consuegra answered “transforming the young lives of women to go out make a difference” and “deepening the faith of our students” added Dr. Ah Yun.
The Upswing is presented by Horicon Bank.
