The university has used its resources to benefit Detroit residents, whether it’s helping teens learn more about opportunities in college or coordinating efforts to feed the homeless.
A round-table discussion exploring U-M’s role in Detroit will be held at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 18 at the Art & Architecture Building Auditorium, Room 2104, as part of the campuswide Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Symposium.
The talk will take advantage of a video-conference link connecting university professors with representatives from Detroit groups located at the school’s Detroit Center. Conversation topics will include whether university outreach efforts are sufficient, as well as what potential future roles the university community might play in the city.
“It is hoped that this event will stimulate thinking about potential collaborations between university departments to better serve the residents of Detroit,” says Scott Kalafatis, who heads the Urban and Regional Planning program’s MLK Symposium Committee, the event’s sponsor.
This committee provides opportunities for faculty, staff and students to explore the influence that urban environments have on issues of social justice like those that Dr. King dedicated his life to, he says.
Detroit has a history of complex social challenges, which is why U-M is active in projects throughout the city and why the planning program has an interest in the impact of those programs, Kalafatis says. Two projects include ArcStart and the Detroit Action Commonwealth.
Arcstart, which was developed in 2009 as a collaboration between the university’s Detroit Center and Taubman College of Architecture and Urban and Regional Planning, is held during three summer weeks. High school students from the city are invited to the university and participate in a free intensive studio program that exposes them to opportunities that are available through college and the field of architecture. The program targets students from historically underrepresented communities.
Since 2008 the Detroit Action Commonwealth has performed outreach with more than 1,000 members of Detroit’s indigent community who meet at Capuchin Soup Kitchen, located on the city’s east side. The group has successfully provided them with identification, jobs and empowerment.
