Nebraska Wesleyan University Athletics

Dr. John Walker joined the Nebraska Wesleyan faculty in 1969, and soon after, he began following the University’s athletic teams. He shared his passion for sports with his son, Mark, and they regularly attended home games together, where Dr. Walker became a fixture over the past 33 years at NWU.
            He called athletics at this level “real” and appreciated the fact that students are playing because they love the game, not because they are getting their schooling paid for through scholarships. The fact that outcomes of games are not determined the day schedules are made (as he said can be the case in NCAA Division I) is part of the charm and appeal. He has also enjoyed getting to know the student-athletes through his classes.
            Dr. Walker, who says basketball was probably his favorite sport, remembers riding in a van to Michigan with 10 people in 1986 when the NWU men made it to the NCAA Div. III Final Four. He would even join in when faculty and students played “pick-up” games in the evenings or during the lunch hour at Taylor Gym or the Knight Field House.
            According to Dr. Walker’s son, Mark, “You could almost see (the new players) wondering, ‘Who’s the old man with the crazy hair?’ That is until the first time he blew by them with his quick first step or left them flat-footed, watching his trademark jump shot swish through the net. Then they started taking him seriously to avoid further embarrassment.”
            Mark suspects some of that respect carried over to their academic experience in the form of students paying a bit more attention during philosophy class. This past spring, Dr. Walker retired from teaching in the department of philosophy, but his consistent showing of support for NWU athletics will continue.
            “I’ve always thought my father’s aesthetic appreciation of Nebraska Wesleyan athletics, by virtue of his unique perspective as a philosophy professor, multi-sport letterman in high school and athletically active adult, was enriching to the Nebraska Wesleyan community,” Mark said. “He recognizes the beauty of athletics in general and the way that beauty is manifested by Nebraska Wesleyan student-athletes in particular.”