Dr. Margery Holman
With the arrival of September 2012, incoming Kinesiology students will face a future that hasn’t been seen for 42 years – a university experience without the benefit of one or more classes from Dr. Margery Holman, who will be officially retiring on August 31st. Marge holds the unique distinction of being a student in this university’s first graduating class in Physical & Health Education. She then went on to teach in that program for her entire University career in a variety of courses, such as Principles of Coaching, Ethics, and graduate and undergraduate Sport and Law. She created and began teaching a landmark course on Gender in Sport and Physical Activity in 1988. Marge’s love of sport and her commitment to excellence and equity have thus been stamped on each Kinesiology alumnus since 1970. The Faculty Association and University administration have benefitted from her talents, including a 3 year secondment by the University President to have Marge create the first Employment Equity office on campus, including the task of developing the University’s first Sexual Harassment Policy.
Her work has extended beyond our walls to benefit sport across campus and externally from the local to the international level. She served as the first Director of Women’s Sport at the University of Windsor for 18 years. Volleyball has remained a constant in her life – coaching the University women’s team, establishing the first women’s volleyball league and travel team in Windsor, serving as juror at the World Student Games, and being president of the CIAU Women’s Volleyball Association for years. She exemplifies an active personal life with weekly activities that include squash, dragon boat racing, golf, roller blading and multiple walks daily with her dog, Princess. Appropriately, she is a CAAWS facilitator for their Women 55-70 & Physical Activity Initiative. Her wide-ranging efforts to increase equity and to decrease harassment and abuse in sport have made her a go-to person on these issues in academics, in athletics and in the media. A few of her recent awards include the Windsor Woman of the Year, the WESPY Builders Award (2010), and the Mary Lou Dietz Equity Leadership Award (2011).
Faculty members in the Department of Kinesiology have decided to create the Margery Holman Legacy Award for Gender in Sport as a retirement tribute to ensure that her legacy of caring endures. This annual award will honour a Kinesiology student who excels in the study of gender. If you wish to honour Marge’s outstanding efforts in creating a sport world that is positive and accessible to all, please fill out the donation box found at the top right hand corner of the page following the donation link. A charitable tax receipt will be issued to all donations over $10. We also hope you can join us at the Penalty Box for an open house luncheon/retirement party/fundraiser on Sunday, September 9th, anytime between 1-4pm ($25 ticket price, with proceeds going to the Legacy Award). Tickets can be obtained by calling the HK Front Office at ext. 2429, email Diane Dupuis at ddupuis@uwindsor.ca, or at the door. Let’s make this Legacy Award a reality and ensure that Dr. Margery Holman will retire knowing that her work has made a difference in our lives, and that we will continue to support her efforts to improve sport in the future.
