LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — University of Kentucky dance team head coach Dawn Walters has announced her retirement after 15 years with the Wildcats.
According to UK Athletics, Walters was a member of the original UK dance team in 1983, then became a UK cheerleader and won two national championships, one of which was the program's first.
Walters was named head coach of the dance team in 2009. She received the Coretta Scott King Spirit of Ivy Award in the 2024 Creative and Performing Arts category. She was also inducted into the Lexington African American Sports Hall of Fame 2023 for her coaching career achievements.
Mayor Linda Gorton declared May 11, 2023, Dawn Duncan Walters Day in Lexington.
“It has been an honor to be able to coach at my alma mater the past 15 years,” Walters said in a press release. “I’ve had the privilege to coach hundreds of wonderful, talented, and special dancers, and it’s been inspiring to watch them grow and flourish. I’m incredibly grateful to everyone at the University of Kentucky for this opportunity, but it is with a bittersweet heart that I am announcing my retirement as the head coach of the UKDT. I will carry so many cherished memories with me and will continue to always bleed blue.”
UK Athletics says a national search for a new head coach has begun.
