Kalamazoo is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a population of 335,340 in 2015. Kalamazoo is equidistant from Chicago and Detroit, being about 140 miles (230 km) away from both.
Western Michigan University is a public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. Bliss for the training of teachers. In 1957, G. Mennen Williams signed a bill into law that made Western a university and gave the school its current name of Western Michigan University.
Waldo Stadium is a stadium in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It is primarily used for football, and has been the home of Western Michigan University Broncos football in rudimentary form since 1914, and as a complete stadium since 1939. It currently has a capacity of 30,200 spectators.
Harry W. Lawson Ice Arena and Gabel Natatorium is a 3,667-seat multi-purpose arena, and adjacent natatorium in Kalamazoo, Michigan, located on the far Southwest corner of Western Michigan University's main campus. The arena is a single-level, horseshoe-style arena with a concourse at the top. It is home to the Western Michigan Broncos men's ice hockey team, the WMU men's ice hockey club team, and the WMU synchronized skating club team. The arena is named after Harry W. Lawson, the founder of the hockey program at Western Michigan University. The Gabel Natatorium contains an olympic size swimming pool, diving facility, and is home to the WMU Swimming and Diving Club team.
University Arena is a multi-purpose arena on the campus of Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. Located in Read Fieldhouse, the arena opened in 1957 and is home to multiple Western Michigan Broncos athletic teams, including men's and women's basketball, women's gymnastics, women's indoor track and field, and women's volleyball. The facility seats 5,421 people. Read Fieldhouse was named for Buck Read, WMU head men's basketball coach from 1922 to 1949.
The Western Michigan Broncos football program represents Western Michigan University in the Football Bowl Subdivision of Division I and the Mid-American Conference (MAC). Western Michigan has competed in football since 1906, when they played three games in their inaugural season. In 1927, WMU joined four other schools to form the Michigan Collegiate Conference. Western Michigan then moved to its present conference in 1948. Prior to 1939, Western Michigan's athletic teams were known as the Hilltoppers.
Bronson Methodist Hospital is a 434-bed non-profit teaching hospital located in downtown Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States, and is a Level I trauma center. Bronson Methodist Hospital is the flagship of the Bronson Healthcare Group, a non-profit healthcare system serving all of southwest Michigan and northern Indiana. Bronson Methodist Hospital provides care in cardiology, orthopedics, surgery, emergency medicine, neurology, oncology; in neurological care as a Comprehensive Stroke Center; in cardiac care as a Chest Pain Center; in obstetrics as a BirthPlace and high-risk pregnancy center, and in pediatrics as a children's hospital.
Dr. Dwight Bryant Waldo was the first President of Western Michigan University (WMU) in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Waldo was born in Arcade, N.Y. but spent his childhood in Plainwell, Michigan. Waldo was elected principal of WMU on April 1, 1904. He served as president from 1904 through 1936. When Western Michigan first opened, it was known as the Western State Normal School and later as the Western State Teachers College. One of Waldo's first moves, creating a rural school department, cemented WMU as a teaching college. It was the first such department in the nation and prepared teachers to effectively educate students in rural parts of America. Waldo also firmly believed in diversity on campus, and during his tenure many females and minorities were given the opportunity to attend the college.
WZOX is a radio station in Portage, Michigan. The station currently broadcasts a modern adult contemporary format branded as "Hits 96.5".
WIDR is a freeform FM radio station that broadcasts from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan. WIDR, a student-run radio station licensed to Western Michigan University, broadcasts with 100 watts of power. The station is entirely student-run, employing six part-time staff members. Staff members must be students at Western Michigan University, enrolled at least part-time. Even though the station is student-run, a number of community volunteers hold on-air positions as well.
WKDS is a radio station licensed to Kalamazoo, Michigan. The station is known as "Classical WMUK" and operated by Western Michigan University as a companion to its WMUK.
East Campus is a collection of buildings and facilities situated on the 60-acre (240,000 m2) hilltop campus that is the original site of Western Michigan University. It includes some of WMU's athletic facilities including Waldo Stadium, Hyames Field, Ebert Field and the Donald Seelye Athletic Center. The campus sits on the top of Prospect Hill, which overlooks the city of Kalamazoo, Michigan.
The Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital (KRPH) is the largest mental health institution in Michigan. It was built under the Kirkbride Plan.
The Western State Normal Railroad, also known as the Normal Railroad or Western Trolley, was a funicular which operated on the campus of Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in the United States from 1908–1949. It is the only known example of a private railroad operated by a university.
The John E. Fetzer Center is a conference center and special events facility at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA. It was opened in 1983 and named for the radio pioneer and Detroit Tigers owner John Fetzer. The facility’s lounge and exhibition area features a display of Fetzer’s life and accomplishments.
James and Lois Richmond Center for Visual Arts is a visual arts center at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. It was opened on March 9, 2007 and was dedicated on Thursday, April 12, 2007. Along with Kohrman Hall Studios, the Richmond Center for VIsual Arts houses the Gwen Frostic School of Art.
Western Michigan University Cooley Law School ("Cooley") is a private law school in Lansing, Michigan and Riverview, Florida. It was established in 1972. At its peak in 2010, Cooley had over 3,900 students and was the largest US law school by enrollment; as of the Spring of 2022, Cooley had approximately 500 students between its two campuses.
Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine (WMed) is a private medical school in Kalamazoo, Michigan. WMed was established in 2012 and confers the Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree, as well as Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences degree and the Master of Science in Medical Engineering degree. WMed is a collaboration between Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo's two teaching hospitals, Ascension Borgess and Bronson Healthcare. The inaugural class of 54 students started in August 2014.
The Western Michigan University Soccer Complex is a soccer-specific stadium located in Kalamazoo, Michigan on the campus of Western Michigan University. Originally known as Lee Baker Field, the complex is adjacent to WMU's Business, Technology & Research Park and the Engineering College campus, and is home to both the Western Michigan Broncos men's and women's soccer teams. The stands seat about 500, and there is standing room along the fencelines, particularly on the north and west sides.
Guy H. Lockwood was an American cartoonist and political activist. Lockwood is best remembered as a touring socialist enthusiast who illustrated and published about a dozen propaganda pamphlets during the first fifteen years of the 20th century.
