Visiting WMU
About Kalamazoo
Kalamazoo, the home of WMU’s main campus, is the fifth largest city in Michigan, with a county population of more than 220,000 residents. The city is located midway between Chicago and Detroit, 140 miles from each, 2.5 hours driving time on I-94. Kalamazoo offers commercial transportation by train, bus, and major airline.
Local festivals attract crowds in the hundreds of thousands. They are planned throughout the year and include:
- Ethnic festivals: Hispanic, Greek and Black Arts
- Arts Festival
- Flowerfest
- New Year’s Fest
- Wine and Harvest Festival
Venues such as WMU’s Miller Auditorium, Wings Stadium and the historic Chenery Auditorium and State Theater offer a complete array of concerts featuring every kind of music and popular entertainment. Because of its location (midway between Chicago and Detroit), Kalamazoo is a frequent stop for many of today's top comedians, musicians and other entertainers. The city is home to the Kalamazoo Ballet, the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra and the prestigious Irving S. Gilmore International Keyboard Festival.
Theater is alive and thriving in Kalamazoo. In addition to performances at WMU and at Kalamazoo College, there are several commercial and community theatre companies, perhaps most notably the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre—one of the oldest, largest, and most-respected community theatres in the United States.
A few of the many other cultural opportunities—and there are many—include the Kalamazoo Valley Museum, the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, and art cinema sponsored by the Kalamazoo Film Society and Western Film Society.
In addition to NCAA Division I sports offered at WMU, the Kalamazoo community has the Kalamazoo K-Wings (UHL hockey), Kalamazoo Kingdom (pro soccer), and Kalamazoo Kings (frontier league pro baseball). There are also AAA minor league baseball teams in Battle Creek and Grand Rapids.
Kalamazoo is just 40 minutes from Lake Michigan beaches and only three to four hours from Michigan’s ski country, considered the best skiing in the central U.S. Excellent local skiing is only 30 minutes away.
The area offers a wide variety of opportunities for entertainment, culture, recreation, and employment.