![\"\"](\"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/old-school-Joe-Kenny-RS.jpg\")
Joe Kenny stands in what is now the Bob Davis Gymnasium in the 1980s.<\/p><\/div>\n
Karen, Brock\u2019s Director of Youth Programs and Recreation, and Joe, Head Athletic Therapist and Manager of the Athletic Therapy Clinic, will be recognized for their longstanding commitment to the University during Homecoming weekend in September.<\/p>\n
They will be the first joint recipients, and first married couple, to be honoured with the annual Distinguished Alumni Award by the Brock University Alumni Association. Joe and Karen each completed their Master of Education while working for the school.<\/p>\n
When Joe began his career at the University in 1981, he hadn\u2019t yet met his future wife, despite both having completed their undergraduate degrees at the University of Waterloo.<\/p>\n
In 1983, Karen learned of a job opening coaching Brock\u2019s women\u2019s volleyball team and threw her hat in the ring.<\/p>\n
With time at Waterloo under both of their belts, Joe was asked if he knew the coaching prospect and he confirmed she would be a great fit.<\/p>\n
When Karen started in the role shortly after, the two met face-to-face for the first time \u2014 with Joe realizing he had mistakenly recommended the wrong person for the job.<\/p>\n
\u201cJoe\u2019s not good with names,\u201d Karen says with a laugh as she shares one of the couple\u2019s fondest memories. \u201cHe thought I was one of my volleyball teammates. That\u2019s how I got here.\u201d<\/p>\n
As luck would have it, the mix-up was a win for the University.<\/p>\n
Karen quickly excelled in the role, adding intramurals to her roster of responsibilities the following year and recreation four years later. In her 10 years coaching volleyball, she led the women\u2019s team to two OWIAA West Division wins and two Ontario bronze medals.<\/p>\n
She played a pivotal role in growing student and community recreation opportunities on campus, helping to create the fulsome offering available today.<\/p>\n
Known for having a similar passion for athletics, Joe is often seen at weekend games supporting his student trainers and is no stranger to late-night emergency calls asking for help with an injured athlete.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe often come back after hours or on weekends for needs that need to be met. We like to be there for the students,\u201d Joe says.<\/p>\n
Adds Karen, \u201cRecreation and athletics is not a 9-to-5 job \u2014 you have to enjoy that.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was their love of sport, and of Brock, that ultimately united the pair not only in work, but also in life.<\/p>\n
In their early years at the University, Karen and Joe\u2019s paths crossed constantly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reality was we attended a lot of varsity games for entertainment because that was a big part of our lives,\u201d Joe says. \u201cWe were always at the games, often going out afterwards to share some fellowship with coaches, trainers and everyone else.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe spent a lot of time together,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou wore me down,\u201d Karen quips.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did,\u201d he responds. \u201cAnd we\u2019ve been together for nearly 26 years.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWonderful years,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n
The pair now have two grown children, Chris and Erin, who at an early age could also be found at various Brock sporting events showing their Badger pride.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Karen-McAllister-Kenny-2002-RS.jpg\")
Karen McAllister-Kenny on the track above the Ian Beddis Gymnasium in 2002.<\/p><\/div>\n
Over the years, Joe and Karen have been at the forefront of the evolution and expansion of the University\u2019s athletics and recreation departments.<\/p>\n
Throughout the many changes, their biggest motivator has remained the same \u2014 the joy of watching students succeed.<\/p>\n
In his role, Joe oversees about 75 students, many of them student athletic trainers who are working in the field for course credit.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen they tell me they\u2019re going onto physiotherapy, chiropractic college, to be a paramedic or massage therapist, or taking another route, it\u2019s so exciting to hear,\u201d he says. \u201cIt means through their practical training and experiential learning they\u2019ve gained an advantage that\u2019s helped them decide their future. Deep down it says we\u2019ve had a chance to help guide a person to a career and I think that\u2019s tremendously rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joe\u2019s face lights up as he talks about the directions his past students have gone in, whether to professional sports teams such as the Toronto Blue Jays and Ottawa Senators, or to successful health-care careers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey all got their start here thanks to our many really great professors,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Of the clinic\u2019s 10 staff members, including doctors, therapists, physiotherapists, chiropractors and osteopaths, eight are Brock graduates.<\/p>\n
\u201cI take a lot of pride in that,\u201d Joe says. \u201cTo me, it says we\u2019re doing something right somewhere along the line.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brock\u2019s recreation department also employs a handful of Brock grads, in addition to hundreds of students who act as the lifeguards, program leaders and fitness instructors.<\/p>\n
Campus recreation is a key part of the university experience, whether students are participating in or facilitating programs, Karen says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all about the connections you make with people. It helps to make you feel like you\u2019re part of something.\u201d<\/p>\n
The couple were both surprised and humbled to learn their efforts have led to the alumni honour, to be bestowed at the Alumni Recognition Reception on campus Sept. 22.<\/p>\n
\u201cFew people have had the pleasure and the privilege to work with young students as closely for as long,\u201d Joe says. \u201cIt has been an amazing experience.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Peer out into the stands at any Brock Badgers game or onto the sidelines during intramural sports and you\u2019ll likely catch a glimpse of someone from the Kenny family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":52036,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[119,36,7,3319,4052,1,4,4523],"tags":[1915,1981,6790,6580,818,6581],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52031"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52031"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52031\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52037,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52031\/revisions\/52037"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}