Current Students

In celebration of International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, University Ministry will hold an interfaith panel featuring women who will share their stories of faith and life.

The panel is set for Monday, March 23, from 6:30-8:30 p.m., in the Student Union Ballroom.

A peer wellness student leader will facilitate a self-care activity table during the event.

Lite bites and refreshments will be served. All are welcome to attend.

Please contact Director of University Ministry Anita Klueg at kluegag@udmercy.edu for any questions or more information. This event is cohosted by the Hindu Community of Michigan, the Muslim Student Association and Peer Wellness.

The Women’s and Gender Studies Program is accepting submissions for the 2025–26 Undergraduate Writing Competition. The deadline for submissions is Monday, March 23.

All current Detroit Mercy undergraduate students are encouraged to submit original work exploring issues related to gender, sexuality and/or feminist thought. Submissions that engage with questions of identity, power, equity and social justice are highly encouraged in the following genres:

• Poetry
• Personal essays
• Short stories
• Academic essays

Total prizes in the amount of $700 will be awarded.

For more information, please email Lee Eshelman at eshelmlr@udmercy.edu or visit the link below.

Celebration of Scholarly Achievement & Community Engagement (CSACE) is a University-wide event featuring research posters, artistic displays, performances, lightning talks and much more. This year’s CSACE symposium is set for Thursday, April 9.

CSACE is an opportunity to recognize the exemplary work across all campuses throughout the academic year and to learn about and support the research achievements of fellow colleagues and students.

All students, staff and faculty from all disciplines are encouraged to register for an opportunity to display or present their academic achievements, scholarly research and publications, community service, artistic creations and talents.

Presenter registration is required to secure a position at the event.

The deadline to register to be a presenter is Tuesday, March 17, at 5 p.m.

The Detroit Mercy English Department will host a reading and conversation featuring author Jim Daniels, recipient of the 2025-26 Michigan Author Award for lifetime achievement from the Library of Michigan and the Michigan Center for the Book.

This event will take place on Tuesday, March 17, at 12:45 p.m., in the Bargman Room, 2nd Floor of the McNichols Campus Library.

Daniels’ newest book, Late Invocation for Magic: New and Selected Poems, will be available for sale at the reading.

A native of Detroit, Daniels has authored more than 30 collections of poetry, seven collections of fiction and four produced screenplays. His collection of essays, An Ignorance of Trees, published in 2025, was recently named a Michigan Notable Book. He has also edited many anthologies, including RESPECT: The Poetry of Detroit Music.

Daniels is a recipient of two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships and numerous writing awards including five Michigan Notable Book Awards and three Gold Medals in the Independent Publisher Book Awards. His films have won awards in film festivals around the world. His work has been published in The Best American Poetry and Pushcart Prize volumes.

This event is free and open to the community.

Thomas Nail, distinguished scholar and professor of Philosophy at the University of Denver, will be the guest speaker at a pair of Philosophy Department events on Wednesday, March 18, and Thursday, March 19.

• March 18, at 4 p.m., The Figure of the Migrant, in Room 317 of the Briggs Building: The talk introduces the main ideas of Nail’s books, The Figure of the Migrant and Theory of the Border, rethinking the nature of political philosophy and history from the perspective of migration. Nail has expanded his analysis to incorporate the advent of climate change and migration in deep Earth history. The conversation will step back and look at the longest and widest frame for which to illuminate the current events of unprecedented global migration and climate change.
• March 19, at 10 a.m., The Birth of Order from Chaos: Perspectives from Comparative World Mythology, in Loranger Architecture Building Exhibition Space: The conversation explores the meaning of the word ‘chaos,’ from an immanent worldview where the oldest native language cosmogonic texts say the cosmos was born from chaos. During this lecture, Nail will present a summary of his research from his latest two unpublished books, The Birth of Chaos and The Birth of Order. His presentation will outline the common features of the world’s oldest recorded cosmogonies and argue that they offer a compelling movement-oriented alternative to post Axial-Age worldviews.

In addition to the works mentioned above, Nail is the author of numerous books, including Theory of the Earth, Marx in Motion, The Philosophy of Movement, Lucretius I, II, III, and Being and Motion. His research focuses on the philosophy of movement.

The March 18 event is co-sponsored by Carney Latin American Solidarity Archive (CLASA).

All are welcome to attend to these free events. Please contact Gail Presbey at presbegm@udmercy.edu with any questions or for more information.

The Detroit Mercy Theatre Company invites the campus community to a TheatreLab reading featuring five actors, three short plays and one night only of engaging reading, directed by Lynch Travis.

The event will take place on Thursday, March 19, at 7:30 p.m., in the new Detroit Mercy Black Box Theatre.

Seating is free and open to the public. No ticket required.

University Ministry will lead a trip for students to attend Mass and tour the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit on Sunday, March 22.

After Mass, the group will tour the Cathedral and then go out for brunch together for fellowship and reflection. Transportation will be provided.

Participants taking University Ministry provided transportation will meet at the University Ministry Office at 10:15 a.m. Those driving themselves should meet at the Cathedral at 10:45 a.m. Mass begins at 11 a.m. 

For more information or any questions, please email Anna Bryson at lawleran@udmercy.edu.

SACD will host Patrick Morrissy ’67 and Wayne Meyer on Wednesday, March 25, for the next installment of its lecture series with a presentation, titled Urban Neighborhoods: Strategic Intervention, Stability, and the Power of Street-Level Practice. The talk is a street-level view of neighborhood change rarely captured in textbooks.

The lecture will be held in the Loranger Architecture Building Exhibition Space. A reception at 4:30 p.m. will precede the lecture, which begins at 5 p.m. All are invited to this event.

Led by Detroit Mercy alumnus Patrick Morrissy, a pioneer in high-impact urban neighborhood intervention, this lecture will explore how HANDS, Inc., a small, disciplined nonprofit, worked with neighborhoods around Newark, N.J. Morrissy and colleague Wayne Meyer will discuss how strategic property acquisition and resident-centered community engagement produced durable neighborhood stability. They will also outline how this work influenced property laws, funding programs and community development finance and became the model for neighborhood stabilization work during the foreclosure crisis and remains relevant in Detroit today.

Morrissy is the founder and former executive director of HANDS, Inc., where he pioneered a high-impact community development strategy that stabilized and revitalized declining urban neighborhoods in the two cities that border Newark, N.J. Morrissy is also a founder and former editor of Shelterforce, the online publication for affordable housing and community development practitioners, and is the author of the 2025 book, Staking Our Claim: The Fight for Better Housing in the 1970s.

Meyer is president of Brick By Brick Training & Development Corporation, a nonprofit focused on building generational wealth through affordable homeownership and community-centered real estate investment. He served as president of New Jersey Community Capital, where he led a transformative strategy benefiting more than 100,000 individuals and families nationwide. At HANDS, Inc., Meyer led a place-based revitalization effort that developed more than 400 affordable housing units and catalyzed neighborhood stability and reinvestment.

University Ministry will hold an overnight Social Justice retreat from Friday, March 27, to Saturday, March 28, filled with speakers, reflection and rest. The theme of the retreat is Contemplatives in Action.

Participants will meet on Detroit Mercy’s McNichols Campus 4:30 p.m. March 27, and head out to Maxis Spirituality Center for community building, fun, food and learning about some of the social justice issues of our day. The Maxis Center is located in Monroe, Michigan, 45 minutes south of the University.

All Detroit Mercy undergraduate and graduate students are welcome. Transportation to and from the retreat is provided.

This retreat will focus especially on immigration, nonviolence, activism, community care and mindfulness, and more. Through the theme of Contemplatives in Action, alumni and community partners will speak about how they have been inspired to do the work of justice. There will be opportunities for reflection as a group and individually.

Those attending the El Paso, Texas-Mexico Border Immersion are required to attend this retreat as pre-trip formation. The El Paso group will also go over trip logistics while at the retreat.

Deadline to register is March 20 (or request an extension).

For questions or concerns, please contact University Ministry at ministry@udmercy.edu or 313-992-1560 or stop by the office, located in the Student Union Lower Level, to speak with Anna or Sammy.

Sculpt Pilates Detroit is back for another four weeks at the Whitty Student Fitness Center.

Classes will take place on Mondays starting March 23 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. in the Group Exercise Room.

This low-impact, strength-focused class is a great way to build core strength, improve flexibility and recharge your body. Equipment is provided, and the class is completely free.

Space is limited, so be sure to reserve your spot now.