December 2012

December commencement is always a wonderful way to end the year, and the 2012 celebration was particularly meaningful. This year, we awarded degrees to 522 graduates at the doctoral, master’s and baccalaureate level. We also gave special recognition to three remarkable women from our community. Each of these women possesses special talents that, while quite different among the three, represent steadfast determination, enthusiasm for living, and a concern for others. I was proud to share the platform with Regent Olivia Maynard, jazz legend and Flint native Dee Dee Bridgewater, and our student speaker, Ghada Alkiek.

Olivia Maynard has served as a regent since 1997, and retired as of this month. She has made it her life’s work to help the underserved. Regent Maynard is a true trailblazer. The first woman to chair the Michigan Democratic Party, Regent Maynard also was the first woman nominated for the office of Michigan’s lieutenant governor, in 1978 and ran a second time in 1990. During her tenure as vice chairperson of the Michigan Democratic Party, Regent Maynard organized support to ensure the rule of a 50 percent female delegation at the Democratic National Convention. In 1983, she became the head of the Office of Services to the Aging. Regent Maynard left the office in 1990 and worked as an adjunct professor and instructor of aging policy at a number of colleges.  She is the founder and president of Michigan Prospect, a progressive public policy institute, and she served on the Federal Council on Aging during the Clinton administration. She is a board member of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the Nature Conservancy of Michigan, McLaren Regional Medical Center, the Council of Michigan Foundations, and the Council on Foundations.  In honor of her distinguished accomplishments, Regent Maynard was inducted into the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame.

Regent Maynard has been an unwavering supporter of UM-Flint.  Her votes to approve major initiatives such as the First Street Residence Hall, the move of the School of Management to Riverfront, and the renovation of the Murchie Science Building, are all indicative of her steadfast belief in progress and innovation. Regent Maynard was also instrumental in approving new academic programs at our university, including the very first doctoral program at UM-Flint in Physical Therapy. Her dedication to our campus is legendary, and we will be forever grateful for her abiding interest in all that we do.

One of this community’s favorite daughters, jazz legend Dee Dee Bridgewater, returned to receive an honorary doctorate of music degree from the University of Michigan. Her citation for this degree reads as follows:

Ms. Bridgewater is known around the world as a leading jazz performer. She also had an impact as a radio host and is known for her global humanitarian efforts.  Raised in Flint, the daughter of a jazz trumpet player, she was part of a female vocal trio, the Iridescents, and sang with her father's ensembles.  
After high school, she studied at Michigan State University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, touring the Soviet Union in 1969 with Illinois' jazz band. She then pursued a career In New York as a jazz singer, working with the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, performing at the Village Vanguard club, and collaborating with leading jazz interpreters including Sonny Rollins, Dizzy Gillespie and Max Roach.  
 
Several of her early recordings were nominated for and won Grammy Awards.  On Broadway, she performed the role of Glinda the Good Witch in the musical "The Wiz," and won a Tony Award in 1975.  She joined the international touring company of the musical "Sophisticated Ladies," and starred in "Lady Day," a biographical stage work depicting the life of singer Billie Holiday.  In 1998 she won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance.  In 2001 she began hosting "JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater" on National Public Radio.
 
Bridgewater's humanitarian efforts resulted in her appointment as ambassador for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in 1999. She has mentored in master classes at the UM-Flint campus and at the Virgil Carr Center in Detroit as part of a residency with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.  Recently, she won a Grammy Award in 2011 for Best Jazz Vocal Album for "Eleanora Fagan (1915-1959): To Billie with Love from Dee Dee" and has been recognized in France with Best Jazz Vocal Album.

Student speaker, Ghada Alkiek, earned a bachelor of business administration degree, as well as a minor in political science at commencement.  She attended Genesee Early College, and continued her studies at UM-Flint where she was accepted into the Honors Program.  She is a strong advocate for human rights. During her time at UM-Flint, she was active with a variety of groups on campus that allowed her to address human rights issues and other issues of equality.  Besides maintaining a high GPA, she volunteered more than 2,000 hours in a variety of activities and was a member of the prestigious Michigan in Washington Program.  After graduation, Ghada is returning to Washington D. C. to work in Congressman-elect Dan Kildee’s office, and is planning to begin work on a graduate degree in public policy in the future.

Three remarkable women… three very different stories… all now and forever connected to the University of Michigan-Flint. Go Blue!
 

Ruth J.  Person
Chancellor

Compete

Two UM-Flint staff members, Mike Lane and Beth Manning, completed the U of M Business & Finance leadership Academy, and we congratulate them on their November 7th graduation.

Our UM-Flint Hockey Club news just gets better and better every year. This year the Club competed with Kettering University for the “Carburetor Cup” trophy (with a portion of gate fees going to the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Flint). We won the Cup! I hosted a pre-game reception for our club members, coaching staff, and families before the game on November 18 (we won that day too!)

Three members of our initial LEAD cohort have received special recognition. On December 4, the Division of Student Affairs presented its 2012 Rising Star Award to Qiana Smith. Tamara McKay, Interim Director of CAPS; Senior Counseling Center Psychologist, has just been elected as president-elect of the Michigan Psychological Association. Mona Munroe-Younis was selected to be an interviewee at the U-M Women Leaders 2012: Stories to Inspire Your Path conference held in Ann Arbor on December 5. Congratulations to all of these participants in our premiere leadership development program.

We have just learned that our Physical Therapy program is once again in compliance with all accreditation standards and is not required to submit any further information this year. It is always welcome news when we achieve or renew accreditation without any conditions or follow up. Our third-year PT students presented their evidence based practice case studies on November 30 at a special poster session. Both the substance and the format of the presentation were very impressive and I was proud, once again, of the quality of our program.

I was pleased to be able to participate in a pinning ceremony for the Department of Nursing, as well as an Honors Ceremony and dinner for the Public Health and Health Sciences Department on December 7. It is wonderful to celebrate the success of our students at these special events and especially meaningful to include family and friends. Our health sciences programs just get stronger and stronger each year.

Convene

On November 12 we hosted our annual Veterans Day ceremony. As always, the ceremony was a meaningful tribute to those who serve, and especially moving for its acknowledgment of the late Beulah Alexander, who as a staff member was an integral part of this event for many years. Following the ceremony we adjourned to the Pavilion to re-dedicate our newly-expanded Veterans Resource Center.  What an important day for our campus as we endeavor to provide the highest level of service to our student veterans, active service members, Guard and Reserve.

                                                   Veterans Resource Center Re-Dedication Ceremony

Later in November we gathered as a campus to honor 40-year employee Joanne Shabazz. The celebration of “Miss Shabazz” and her many contributions to UM-Flint was truly a special moment for all.

At our semi-annual Retirement Reception, we celebrated over 300 years of service among our departing faculty and staff. Those retiring include: Rose Casement, Julie Colish, Jean Corey, Judith Dinsmore, Rick Griswold, Lorrie Jorgenson, Nanette Kelly, Gayle Marcum, Nathan Oaklander, Mary Packer, Vickie Redman-Powell, Joann Shabazz, Ginny Sollinger, and Johnny Young. They will all be missed!

Connect

One of our strongest community partners is Mott Community College. For many years we have had an office on the Mott campus to facilitate the transfer process to UM-Flint. This year we have been able to relocate that space and expand it to make our presence much more visible. We officially dedicated our new “footprint” on November 9th.

Two special events brought us together in November to serve the larger community. First, along with the American Business Women’s Association and the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan, we hosted a “Knock Out Hunger” food drive. Our guest of honor was none other than our very own Flint native and Olympic Gold Medalist, Claressa Shields. It was really great of her to share her time with us for such a good cause.

Then later that week our First Street Block Club; our Department of Public Safety; and Jessie Hurse, Assistant Director of Student Life; sponsored a food distribution in honor of Jessie’s late mom, Lula Hurse. The group was able to secure two semi-trailers of food from the Food Bank and all of our wonderful volunteers did a great job handling this major event. It is a real challenge handing out that much food, but we did it!

UM-Flint has just become a member of the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities (CUMU) and I have joined its Presidents’ Council. CUMU’s slogan is “Because Place Matters,” something we know very well in Flint. I look forward to becoming more involved in this organization, both personally and institutionally.

On My Calendar