Lisa Kennedy (C’25) grew up in the same house her father grew up in. Her grandfather was raised in a home just down the road. Today, nearly all of Kennedy’s extended family lives on that same road. Kennedy is a fifth-generation resident of Rhinelander, a town in northern Wisconsin with a population of 8,000 people situated among the region’s countless lakes, streams and rivers. Growing up, Kennedy was told that if she wanted to be successful in life, she had to leave her hometown and never come back, that there was no opportunity in rural communities like Rhinelander. Her teachers encouraged her to think big for college. That meant Kennedy’s dream school, Georgetown, a place to pursue her passion in history and politics. But she knew Washington, DC, would be a stark transition from her life in rural Wisconsin. “I couldn’t help but think of everyone I was leaving,” she said. “My teachers, who juggled multiple jobs so we could have both a history teacher and a hockey coach. My classm...