By Amber Wright, communications assistant, Office of University Communications

CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. - A retired general practitioner from Memphis, Tenn. has donated nearly $35,000 over the years to promote health and wellness for the Campbellsville University campus and the community.

Dr. Frances Walker donated money to make the walking track next to the Men's Village at Campbellsville University a better place for students and the community to become healthier.

The track, beside the men's village and baseball field on the campus of Campbellsville University, has been resurfaced to “provide a better surface and to meet a need for the community,” Benji Kelly, vice president for development at Campbellsville University, said.

In 2006, Dr. Frances Walker was the first contributor to the track. Over the years, Walker has donated nearly $35,000 to make the walking track a possibility.

“Dr. Walker has made several gifts to CU allowing for the planning and construction of a walking track. We began building a track several years ago basically following the perimeter of the band practice field and going around a house at the corner that we do not own as yet. Chris Davis, our director of grounds and landscape director, picked up the pace last year when he and his crew added exercise stations at various stops along the track. We hope to make more permanent improvements when it is determined exactly what the practice field will be used for and what its configuration will be,” Otto Tennant, vice president for finance and administration at Campbellsville University, said.

Since the start of the project, there have been many additions. Several exercise stations around the outside of the track - designed to give people variety when working out - have been built. These additions include a sit-up station, pull-up station, box-jump station, as well as a set of monkey bars.

“Dr. Walker made a donation for her vision of wellness. That's kind of what it was all about. Dr. Walker was trying to create an outdoor environment for health and wellness, and that's where the whole project started. It was something to have in addition to the campus mile. It breaks it up too. Instead of just walking constantly, it gives you a few stations to do simple body weight exercises along the way,” Davis said.

Walker, who was a general practitioner for several years, believes in exercising to stay healthy and helped create an area to do that with her donations.

The track is open to the public. All are welcome and encouraged to utilize the walking area as well as the exercise equipment along the way.

Campbellsville University is a widely-acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with more than 10,000 students offering over 90 programs of study including 20 master's degrees, six postgraduate areas and seven pre-professional programs. The university has off-campus centers in Kentucky cities Louisville, Harrodsburg, Somerset, Hodgenville and Liberty with instructional sites in Elizabethtown, Owensboro and Summersville, all in Kentucky, and one in Costa Mesa, Calif., and a full complement of online programs. The website for complete information is campbellsville.edu.