Director of WMU athletics next up in community breakfast series

KALAMAZOO, Mich.—Kathy Beauregard, Western Michigan University athletic director, will be the next speaker at the upcoming Mercantile Bank of Michigan Breakfast Speaker Series hosted by the Haworth College of Business.

Beauregard will give a presentation titled "WMU Bronco Football Media Plan" at 8 a.m. Friday, May 19, in 2150 Schneider Hall.

The event is free and open to the public and begins with breakfast at 7:30 a.m. Reservations are required and can be made by calling (269) 387-6059 or at wmich.edu/business/mercantile-rsvp. Free parking is available at the Fetzer Center in Lot 72F.

Kathy Beauregard

Beauregard became WMU’s director of intercollegiate athletics in 1997, after serving nine seasons as WMU's gymnastics coach and nine years in athletic administration. She was the third woman to be named an athletic director in the Mid-American Conference and the first at WMU and is the longest serving athletic director in the Mid-American Conference. In 2011, she was named Athletic Director of the Year for WMU’s region and division by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.

Under Beauregard, Bronco student-athletes have posted 18 consecutive semesters of a combined overall GPA above 3.00. Beauregard is a native of Kalamazoo and graduate of Loy Norrix High School. She earned a bachelor's degree from Hope College in 1979 and a master's degree from WMU in 1981.  

Bronco football

Bronco football achieved 73 program firsts in the 2016-17 season, including beating two Big Ten teams and being nationally ranked in the Associated Press Top 25, USA Today Amway Coaches Poll and College Football Playoff ranking.

ESPN College GameDay came to campus Nov. 19 ahead of the Broncos' 38-0 win over Buffalo, making WMU the second MAC school ever to be featured as a host of the Emmy Award-winning pregame show.

Fans responded to the team's unprecedented success by setting a home attendance record of more than 143,000 at Waldo Stadium and a MAC Championship attendance record of more than 45,000 at Ford Field.

Mercantile Bank of Michigan Breakfast Speaker Series

The Mercantile Bank of Michigan Breakfast Speaker Series provides an opportunity for the local community to hear top business leaders and WMU faculty, alumni and friends of the Haworth College of Business discuss current topics of interest.

For more information or to register, contact the Haworth College of Business at (269) 387-6059 or at wmich.edu/business/mercantile-rsvp.

For more news, arts and events, visit wmich.edu/news.