The University of Michigan launches a new website today that captures the engagement of its faculty, students, staff and alumni in Detroit.
It can be found at detroit.umich.edu and was created to bring together U-M’s efforts with Detroit — including the U-M Detroit Center on Woodward Avenue and the Detroit Connector — under one digital umbrella.
“The University of Michigan has a long history with Detroit, the city of our birth. Today we have literally hundreds of projects in and with the city, and we are proud of how these engagements help to realize the city’s opportunities in economic mobility, cultural expression, education and healthy communities,” said James Holloway, vice provost for global engagement and interdisciplinary academic affairs. “This website will help to create more transparency around our partnerships with the city.”
The university’s engagement in Detroit, where it was founded in 1817, ranges from student organizations and social change projects, courses and K-12 programs, and community-academic research projects to business engagement and collaborations with City government and neighborhood organizations.
“Faculty, students and staff from all three of our campuses work alongside Detroit partners to learn and serve in ways that create mutual benefits,” President Mark Schlissel said. “We are excited to add important new chapters to U-M’s more than 200-year history with this great American city.”
Recently announced collaborations include:
• U-M’s School of Education is one of several organizations coming together to form a cradle-to-career educational partnership on the campus of Marygrove College in northwest Detroit. It will include a state-of-the-art early childhood education center, a new K-12 school and the introduction of an innovative teacher education program modeled after hospital residency programs.
• U-M and Harvard University are forming two new partnerships designed to spur economic mobility and reduce poverty in Detroit, as well as combine resources and expertise in response to the national opioid crisis. The Equality of Opportunity Project will collaborate with the city of Detroit and local partners on an action plan to identify promising, results-based interventions for improving the livelihoods of low-income Detroit residents.
• U-M and the city of Detroit are joining forces to boost economic mobility and break the cycle of poverty in Detroit. U-M will provide up to $500,000 in resources each year for four years to support action-based partnerships that pair U-M experts with city leaders. The initiative is led by Poverty Solutions at U-M.
The website is a collaboration among the Office of the Provost, Office of the Vice President for Communications and the Office of Government Relations.
