Roy G. Walters Memorial Scholarship

Scholarship Sponsored by Kalamazoo Community Foundation

Overview This scholarship supports graduating high school seniors from Kalamazoo County who have participated in athletics and been active in their school and community. Recipients must plan to enroll full time at a college or university and demonstrate financial need. Eligibility - Type of student: Graduating high school seniors - Residence: Must be a resident of Kalamazoo County - High school: Student of a Kalamazoo County high school - Enrollment: Accepted for full-time study at an accredited college or university - Financial need: Applicants are required to show financial need Award - Amount: $500–$1,000 Background of the Fund The scholarship honors Roy Walters (inducted into the Michigan High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1992), a distinguished coach, athlete, husband and father of seven. Walters set many school records in football and track during his high school years. He began his collegiate football career as a freshman at the University of Iowa before transferring to Mankato State University (Minnesota), where he excelled in both football and track and still holds the school marks in the 100- and 220-yard dashes. In 1948 Walters was one of only four U.S. sprinters to record a 100-yard time of 9.6 seconds, but he was ruled ineligible for the Olympic trials because he was coaching track in Redwood Falls, Minnesota at the time. He arrived in the Kalamazoo area in the early 1950s to coach football at State High (later known as University High), leading teams for 15 seasons. Walters’ squads finished undefeated in 1955, 1959, and 1960, and were ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press Class B poll in both 1959 and 1960. Beyond football, he coached golf and track, guiding University High to three straight Class B state golf championships in 1963, 1964, and 1965 and developing numerous strong track teams. Walters later left University High to serve as the middle school principal in Comstock and subsequently became the high school’s head football coach. When Roy Walters passed away in 1995, a memorial fund was created at the Kalamazoo Community Foundation to provide financial assistance for higher education to students who, like Walters, have been involved in athletics and in school and community activities and who demonstrate financial need.