Patty Gallagher

Off the Court

Western Michigan alumni, as Patty Gallagher tells it on the shows. Each story was checked against its source.

• Merze TateTrailblazing scholar and historian

  Merze Tate, hon. In 1927 she was the first African-American to earn a bachelor's degree here. Then the first African-American woman to attend Oxford, then the first to earn a Harvard doctorate in government. That's three firsts. I counted.

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• Loretta LongSusan on Sesame Street

  Loretta Long earned her bachelor's here in 1960 and went on to play Susan Robinson on Sesame Street. If you learned your letters from Susan, you learned them from a Bronco.

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• Dennis ArcherDetroit mayor, state justice

  Dennis Archer, bachelor of science in education. Michigan Supreme Court justice and mayor of Detroit. Two big jobs, one Western diploma. That's a good assist-to-turnover ratio, dear.

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• Homer StrykerFounder of Stryker Corporation

  Homer Stryker left Western in 1916 with a certificate of teaching and ended up founding Stryker Corporation. A teaching certificate. You never know where a Kalamazoo education will take you.

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• Alec GoresPrivate equity billionaire

  Alec Gores took a computer science degree here and founded a private equity firm in 1987 that has bought or invested in over 130 companies. Number 391 on the Forbes 400 in 2020. Some people collect stamps, hon. He collects companies.

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