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Jewell and Walker earn "W" Club honors

Jan. 31, 2007

KALAMAZOO--Frances Jewell, a softball and basketball standout at Western Michigan University, and Dr. Lewis Walker, former Gary Fund chair and consultant to the WMU Athletic Board, have been named WMU Alumni "W" Club Woman and Man of the Year for 2007. They were recognized in a ceremony at halftime of a men's basketball contest earlier this month.

Jewell serves as managing director for the City of Kalamazoo Department of Parks and Recreation. She is also a member of the Kalamazoo Municipal Golf Association, the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and the Friends of Recreation. She began working for the city as a lifeguard in 1978.

A native of Flint, Mich., Jewell has served as a volunteer coach for the Special Olympics for more than 28 years. She earned a bachelor's degree in 1980 and a master's degree in athletic administration in 1993, both from WMU.

Walker, emeritus chair and professor of sociology at WMU, spent 44 years as a teacher and researcher. He served on search committees that hired men's basketball coach Steve Hawkins and football coach Bill Cubit. Walker, who has been a member of the WMU Athletic Hall of Fame committee, also serves on WMU's NCAA Certification committee.

In 2000, to honor of Walker's work in race and ethnic relations, WMU renamed its race institute the Lewis Walker Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnic Relations. Walker recently came out of retirement to serve as interim director of the institute.

The WMU Alumni "W" Club has presented a Woman of the Year since 1990 and a Man of the Year since 1967.

Media contact: Daniel Jankowski, (269) 387-4138, daniel.jankowski@wmich.edu

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