Community
UDM News for our Neighbors
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Poet Joanne Godley to launch award-winning collection at reading, March 25
Tuesday March 24, 2026
Broadside Lotus Press and the University of Detroit Mercy Press will host a virtual reading and conversation with Joanne Godley, author of How the Black Panthers Fell from the Sky and winner of the 2025 Naomi Long Madgett Poetry Award.The reading will take place from 6-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 25. Please register below to obtain Zoom link.
Godley grew up in Detroit during the city’s industrial heyday and amidst the activism of the labor unions. Her memoir reflects on her teenage years, when, impatient with someday freedom songs and despairing at the horrors of the Vietnam war, she is swept up by the daring promise of those militant “cats” in black leather jackets. The poems remind readers of the hopefulness and exhilaration of Panther Party times as well as provide Godley’s mature reflections on the Party’s dismantlement.
How the Black Panthers Fell from the Sky is the fourth co-publication of Broadside Lotus Press and UDM Press. It can be purchased at the Detroit Mercy bookstore and online through Hatteras printing.
Register here. - Tuesday March 24, 2026
Antoine M. Garibaldi, president emeritus and distinguished university professor, was recently honored with the 2026 Distinguished Warriors award from the Urban League of Detroit & Southeastern Michigan.
During his leadership at Detroit Mercy, the University saw increases in enrollment, retention and graduation rates, along with a stronger financial position. Its national and regional academic profile concurrently soared in U.S. News & World Report’s annual “Best Colleges” and was among the top 20% of the country’s 5,000 colleges and universities selected for ranking in the new Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education.
Garibaldi was UDM’s 25th and third longest-serving president from June 2011 through June 2022. In addition, he was the University’s first layperson and first African American president since 1877.
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Next installment of SACD lecture series set for March 25
Tuesday March 24, 2026
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.
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Steven Brady to discuss Catholic perspectives on Vietnam War at CLASA Mercy Peace Forum, April 9
Tuesday March 24, 2026
Carney Latin American Solidarity Archive (CLASA) and Detroit Mercy collaborate with three other Mercy Universities — Gwynedd Mercy University, Saint Joseph’s University and Georgian Court University — along with the Peace History Society, to offer an online Mercy Peace Forum event each semester.
The spring 2026 event is set for Thursday, April 9, at 7 p.m. All are invited to this free event.
This webinar features Steven Brady, associate professor of History at George Washington University, who will discuss his new book Less Than Victory: American Catholics and the Vietnam War, and how an earlier generation of Americans responded to the moral dilemmas posed by a troubling war.
This semester’s event is hosted by Michael Clinton, professor of History at Gwynedd Mercy University.
For more information contact Clinton at clinton.michael@gmercyu.edu or Director of CLASA Gail Presbey at presbegm@udmercy.edu.
Register for webinar here.
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Cushing Distinguished Lecture series features Ruben Habito, April 8
Tuesday March 24, 2026
Ruben Habito
The Detroit Mercy Department of Religious Studies presents the 2026 Cushing Distinguished Lecture series, featuring Ruben L.F. Habito. The lecture is set for Wednesday, April 8 at 7 p.m., in the Fountain Lounge of the Student Union.
Habito‘s lecture is titled, “Contemplation in Action: Emerging from Helplessness to Being of Some Help amidst our Wounded and Troubling World.”
Living in the midst of our deeply divided, demoralizing and deteriorating world, one tends to ask: How may I be of help in alleviating this situation? This important talk will offer guidelines for contemplative practice that may inspire and empower one to active engagement toward healing our collective woundedness on many fronts.
Habito is professor emeritus of World Religions and Spirituality at the Perkins School of Theology (Southern Methodist University) and founding teacher of Maria Kannon Zen Center in Dallas. He is the author of Healing Breath: Zen Spirituality for Christians and Buddhists in a Wounded World, and many other titles.
This event is free and open to the public, and light refreshments will be provided. Please contact Todd Hibbard for more information at 313-993-1088 or hibbarja@udmercy.edu.
The Cushing Distinguished Lecture Series is made possible by the generous endowment of Drs. Ralph and Barbara Cushing, alumni of the graduate program in Religious Studies at Detroit Mercy.
Register here.
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Resources, Centers and Clinics
Center for Social Entrepreneurship
The Center provides business expertise and acumen as well as mentors to assist local entrepreneurs, beginning with the “Boost” workshop that aids entrepreneurs in developing business plans to achieve a greater social impact.
Counseling Clinic
The clinic provides no-cost counseling services to Detroit residents who otherwise may not have access to mental health services.
Dental Center
Detroit Mercy Dental offers dental services and education through two clinics, nine outreach clinics, a mobile dental clinic and a school-based dental sealant program.
Dental Mobile Clinic
The clinic travels to local participating schools in Detroit and Wayne County to provide comprehensive care for K-12 children.
Detroit Collaborative Design Center
The design center provides design services to non-profit community and civic organizations to engage communities and enhance neighborhoods.
Detroit Mercy Eye Institute
The Detroit Mercy Eye Institute includes the state-of-the-art equipment and technology needed to diagnose, monitor, and treat numerous eye conditions. The clinic will also provide affordable eyecare to the uninsured and vulnerable populations.
Law Clinics
Detroit Mercy Law provides legal assistance to Detroit area residents through six clinics: Immigration Law Clinic, SADO Criminal Appellate Clinic, Criminal Trial Clinic, Veterans Law Clinic, Juvenile Law Appellate Clinic and Intellectual Property Law Clinic.
Pre-College Programs
Detroit area students in grades 4-12 participate in more than 15 outreach programs annually through Saturday classes, summer camps, and innovative curricula in the sciences, technology engineering, mathematics, architecture and design.
Psychology Clinic
The Psychology Clinic provides assessment and counseling services for approximately 300 clients annually. Fees are based on ability to pay.
Rx for Reading Program
This program increases access to children’s books and supports families in reading to their children. The program has distributed more than 2,000 children’s books a month at a variety of locations, including low-income health, dental and WIC clinics; homeless shelters; and Head Start programs.
Summer Camps
A variety of summer activities available on UDM Campuses. Some are hosted by UDM; some are simply located on our campuses.
Titan Equity Nourish Network (TENN)
TENN is a student-led and community-driven food justice program that delivers fresh produce to 60 families in New Martin Park Neighborhood and 80 seniors at Theresa Maxis Senior Apartments.
Alliances and Initiatives
Reimagining the Civic Commons
University of Detroit Mercy serves as one of the institutional anchors for the “Reimaging the Civic Commons” initiative, which is funded through the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation grant. The initiative focuses on the City of Detroit’s neighborhood revitalization priority: the Livernois/McNichols area. The project’s goal is to revitalize the neighborhoods between its two anchor institutions, Detroit Mercy and Marygrove College, creating a denser and more diverse urban community.
Live6 Alliance
University of Detroit Mercy helped to launch the Live6 Alliance in August 2015 to strengthen the Livernois Avenue and McNichols Road commercial corridor in northwest Detroit.
Service Immersion Days / Trips
These experiences give students opportunities to serve in shelters, soup kitchens, after school projects, urban farms and many other important community based projects both locally and nationally.
Directories
Media Experts Guide
Detroit Mercy scholars are experts in their fields and many have agreed to be available to media. Note that experts' views are their own and may not reflect the views of their colleagues or University of Detroit Mercy.
Migration Research Directory
The AJCU Migration Research Directory is an open-access resource for high-quality research on migration, provided by the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities. Faculty members from Jesuit universities around the world provide important migration and refugee research from a wide variety of perspectives.