When he was asked recently if he and his wife, Julie, would serve as hosts of the medical school’s upcoming 4th Annual Imagine Gala, Ken Miller says he was honored by the request, well aware of the significance of the event for WMed and the community.
And it wasn’t lost on Miller, a member of the Western Michigan University Board of Trustees, a WMU alumnus and CEO of the Millennium Restaurant Group, that he and Julie would be following in the footsteps of the Gala’s previous hosts – former WMU President John M. and Linda Dunn in 2017 and William D. Johnston and Ronda E. Stryker in 2018.
Ken and Julie will welcome guests to the Imagine Gala on Saturday, May 18, 2019, at the medical school’s W.E. Upjohn M.D. Campus in downtown Kalamazoo.
Guests will receive the red-carpet treatment at the Gala, which will feature a “Havana Nights” inspired theme this year with authentic Cuban cuisine and a band, as well as drinks, desserts, and dancing.
“It’s a tremendous honor to follow John and Linda and, certainly, Bill and Ronda,” Ken said. “They all deserve a significant amount of credit for the existence of the medical school – John because he had the nucleus of the idea to begin with and he was able to follow through and make it a reality with Bill and Ronda’s support and guidance.”
Last year’s Gala attracted its largest-ever crowd as almost 400 people gathered at the W.E. Upjohn M.D. Campus for the black-tie event. The Gala is a fundraiser for Early Introduction to Health Careers (EIH), the medical school’s pipeline programs for elementary and high school students from Kalamazoo Public Schools (KPS).
The pipeline programs, which began in 2016, are designed to champion the biomedical science and healthcare career aspirations of underrepresented youth. The programs provide a platform also for WMed students to design and teach interactive learning experiences to help elementary and high school students develop leadership, team-building, and problem-solving skills.
Ken Miller said the importance of the Gala and the pipeline programs it benefits each year cannot be overstated. The event, he said, is an important vehicle to enrich the lives of the young students who call Kalamazoo home.
“Education has always been of the utmost importance to us just as it was for my parents,” he said.
This year’s Gala will serve as the venue for an important announcement regarding a new endeavor around EIH to ensure that high school students from the program are able to realize their dreams.
To honor Ken and Julie’s commitment to education and students in the Kalamazoo community, a campaign is underway to establish a new endowment at the medical school. The endowment will fund medical school scholarships for students from southwest Michigan, with preference given to KPS graduates who completed EIH.
Ken and Julie have also been stalwart supporters of the medical school from the time Dr. Dunn unveiled his vision of what would become WMed more than a decade ago to now. In many ways, Ken Miller played a direct role in bringing the medical school to life as he chaired the search committee in 2007 that chose Dr. Dunn as WMU’s eighth president.
“There are only so many communities in the country that have a medical school in existence,” Ken said. “I take a look at the students we have drawn in over the last four years and every year I’ve had an opportunity to speak with several of them. If we can keep them, this community is just going to continue to grow.
“These are talented individuals and to be able to potentially add some of these people to this community, I think, is a great advantage.”
With the Gala now just seven months away, Ken said he and Julie are excited – and even a little nervous – for the event.
“I say that because of the significance of the Gala,” he said. “The significance of this event for the medical school has grown and that is thanks to the previous hosts and the work of a lot of people. It has gained a tremendous amount of momentum in just three years.
“I think that’s a blessing, certainly, and it’s with a great deal of honor that Julie and I prepare to take on the role of hosting such a wonderful event for the medical school and the community.”
Reservations for the 4th Annual Imagine Gala are available now and can be purchased by visiting med.wmich.edu/GALA or by calling 269.337.4370. Sponsorship opportunities are also available.