Joe Vanden Acker, who has chronicled and celebrated the accomplishments of Lawrence University student-athletes for 25 years, is being honored by the Midwest Conference.
The conference announced that Vanden Acker, Lawrence's director of athletic media relations, is the recipient of the Midwest Conference Meritorious Service Award, given in recognition of his “significant contributions and outstanding service to the MWC and its member institutions.” Heather Benning, executive director of the MWC, applauded Vanden Acker for his commitment to Lawrence Athletics as well as his service to wider athletic events, including MWC tournaments and the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship, which was held annually at Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute from 2000 to 2018.
Vanden Acker coordinates media coverage for Lawrence’s 22 varsity teams (24 with the addition of men’s and women’s lacrosse beginning in March 2025), produces athletics publications, serves as head statistician for home events, maintains the athletics portion of the Lawrence website, and distributes results to local, state, and national media. He also produces video webcasts for 12 Lawrence teams and serves as the "Voice of the Vikings" for hockey, baseball, and softball.
Jason Imperati, director of athletics, called Vanden Acker’s contributions an “invaluable” part of Lawrence Athletics over the past quarter century.
“From managing media publications and event production to his leadership in NCAA championships, JVA consistently goes above and beyond,” Imperati said. “This award is a well-deserved recognition of his outstanding contributions to both our university and the broader athletic community.”
Vanden Acker joined the Lawrence staff at the dawn of the digital statistics era and in the infancy of the university's athletics website. He has become the university’s de facto athletics historian along the way.