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EMU lecturer inducted into Michigan Women's Hall of Fame

Kay McGowan's worldview flows powerfully from her Mississippi Chocktaw and Cherokee culture. Indians, she explains, are taught to think for themselves, but always act for the good of the group. Historically, that's put them at odds with a mainstream culture where people are taught to think like the group, but act in their own best interest.

HALLOWED HALL: Kay McGowan,
an EMU lecturer of sociology,
anthropology and criminology, was
recently inducted into the Michigan
Hall of Fame. Here, she takes time
out after being honored at EMU's
recent Fall Feast.

McGowan, a lecturer in EMU's sociology, anthropology and criminology department, has spent a career acting in the interest of groups that might otherwise have no voice, and the impact of her work reaches throughout Southeastern Michigan and around the world.

On Oct. 21, she was one of 10 women inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame in a ceremony in East Lansing.

"It was beautiful, she said. "There were 1,200 people there at the Kellogg Center and it was beautiful, inspirational. There were great women from all over the country and all over the state of Michigan, women who work so hard for everyone."

McGowan, 59, is living proof that every person's actions can make a difference.

She's helped launch organizations that work on behalf of Michigan citizens, victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. She's worked with others to secure rights for Native Americans and indigenous people worldwide. She teaches cultural anthropology at EMU and periodically jets off to Geneva, Switzerland, to work at the United Nations.

All in a day's work. Four of her five grown children were at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony. McGowan knows they're proud of her, but she also recognizes that, to them, this is just "what Mom does."

"She's been working in this area (of activism) for decades, and she has a certain reputation among Native American groups as someone who speaks in their interest," said Sociology, Anthropology and Criminology Department Head Peter Wood, who added that McGowan's years of activism give her even more clout in the classroom. "She's a good advocate and a very good instructor."