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91˿Ƶ News for our Neighbors

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  • TENN to host Halloween game night with community neighbors, Oct. 9

    Monday September 29, 2025

    Titan Equity Nourish Network (TENN) is hosting a festive evening filled with cider, donuts, games, crafts and goodie bags.

    All are welcome to join in the Halloween fun with Detroit Mercy’s neighbors from the Princeton Street Block Club and Theresa Maxis on Thursday, Oct. 9, at 5:30 p.m. in the Briggs Building, Room 101.

    Transportation is available for community members.

    Please email Chelsea Manning at mannincp@udmercy.edu with any questions.

    A flyer for TENN's Halloween party on Oct. 9 at 5:30 p.m. in Briggs Building. Games, snacks and crafts. Transportation available for community members. The text is surrounded by graphics of Halloween figures.

  • Joanna Fuhrman featured in virtual poetry reading, Oct. 1

    Monday September 29, 2025

    An image of Joanna Furhman with Detroit Mercy English logo across the top.Detroit Mercy’s welcomes poet Joanna Fuhrman for a special reading, hosted by 91˿Ƶ’s Poet-in-ResidenceStacy Gnall. All are invited to attend this free event, which takes place virtually on Wednesday, Oct. 1, from 6:30-7:45 p.m.

    Fuhrman is the author of seven poetry collections, most recently including Data Mindand To a New Era. Her poems have appeared in The Believer, The Baffler, Fence, The Georgia Reviewand more, as well as on the Poetry Foundation and Academy of American Poets websites. Her work has also been featured in Best American Poetry, The Pushcart Prize anthology and The Slowdown podcast. A graduate of the University of Washington’s MFA program, Fuhrman lives in New Jersey where she serves as an assistant teaching professor of creative writing at Rutgers University.

  • 91˿Ƶ hosts 20th Annual Great Lakes Bioneers Detroit Conference, Oct. 2-3

    Monday September 29, 2025

    Once again, 91˿Ƶ will host the 20th annual Great Lakes Bioneers Detroit Conference from Oct. 2-3.

    This year’s Great Lakes Bioneers Detroit (GLBD) Conference is a platform for community members to network and highlight innovative approaches to environmental and social challenges. The conference is for people of all ages who are interested in exploring topics, developing skills and motivating action for the betterment of our One Earth Community.

    Participants will have the opportunity to share experiences and learn strategies to ensure that humans are a positive force in our earth community while addressing the critical issues of public health and wellness; racial and environmental justice; indigenous (Traditional Ecological Knowledge, TEK) resource protection and sustainability; fresh water resource and Great Lakes protection; and recycling, food waste reduction and management.

    Learn more and register here.

  • 91˿Ƶ opens new Black Box Theatre on McNichols Campus

    Monday September 29, 2025

    An image of several students standing in a circle on stage at 91˿Ƶ's Blackbox Theatre91˿Ƶ opened a theatre on its McNichols Campus Monday, Sept. 29, that it hopes will become a venue not just for the school’s , but for artists and community members across Detroit who need a place to come together.

    “We’re thrilled to bring live theatre back to campus,” said Detroit Mercy President Donald B. Taylor. “This will enhance our student engagement on campus and provide community engagement opportunities for our neighborhood in ways we are only beginning to imagine.”

    The state-of-the-art Detroit Mercy Black Box Theatre is designed to be a flexible, professional-quality space that allows students and faculty to explore innovative forms of storytelling. Located on the Lower Level of the Student Union, the venue will also be made available to Detroit’s varied community organizations and businesses for meetings, performances and presentations.

    Though there have been performances at various spaces on the McNichols Campus for decades, this is the first dedicated theatre space there.

    “The new Black Box Theatre will be a catalyst for creativity,” said Greg Grobis, associate dean of the College of Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences (CHASS) and associate professor of Theatre. “Its flexible design ensures that no two productions will ever feel the same, empowering students and faculty to dream bigger, take risks and explore new forms of storytelling.”

    Most important, it will be the new home to the award-winning Detroit Mercy Theatre Company, which will open its 55th season on Nov. 7 with a new adaptation of William Shakespeare’s comedy “Twelfth Night” adapted by Marc Palmieri. Most recently, the company produced its works at the Marlene Boll Theatre at the Detroit YMCA.

    “The Department of Performing Arts and Detroit Mercy Theatre Company cannot wait to return home to 91˿Ƶ’s McNichols Campus after more than 10 years away,” said Sarah Hawkins Rusk, managing director of DMTC. “This new theatre space will be a vibrant home for creativity on campus — giving our students a professional-quality space to learn and grow, whether they’re performing on stage or working behind the scenes.”

    Two students working with fabric at a sewing machine.The 13,000-square-foot space cost just under $3 million and funded through investments by many donors, including several alumni who work in the entertainment industry across the country. It will seat up to 109 people, depending on the configuration of the stage, which can be adapted to each production. Lighting and sound technology is of a caliber being used in professional theaters across the country, allowing students to develop skills they can take directly to the workforce. The theater also includes a costume shop with laundry, individual changing rooms and a greenroom where performers can prepare and relax before and after a show.

    The Detroit Mercy Black Box Theatre will also strengthen arts and culture connections beyond campus said Jocelyn Boryczka, CHASS dean, noting its wider impact on both the University and surrounding neighborhoods.

    “The Detroit Mercy Black Box Theatre will energize arts and culture on 91˿Ƶ’s McNichols Campus, in our Northwest Detroit neighborhoods and across metro Detroit,” she said of the Livernois and Six Mile corridor of Detroit. “This space will host student productions, lectures, spoken word and musical performances, and other events that will drive community engagement. Our new theater exhibits how 91˿Ƶ lives its mission by creating a space where we can all reach for themagis, the more.”

    The theatre also represents a significant step forward for Detroit Mercy’s Department of Performing Arts. Andrew Papa, chair of the Department of Performing Arts, emphasized the impact it will have.

    The entrance and ticket office for Detroit Mercy Black Box Theatre“The Detroit Mercy Black Box Theatre is set to become a game-changer for not just the Department of Performing Arts, but for the entire Detroit Mercy community,” he said. “Having a permanently designated space for our theatre productions is an invaluable learning experience for our students. It will give them more opportunities to experiment, to work with technology that mirrors the real world, and even to develop their own student-produced work.

    He continued: “Detroit Mercy is a ‘learn by doing’ institution, and laboratories are a key method for teaching our students. We have Chemistry lab spaces and Architecture lab spaces and even lab spaces for our Nursing students. And now, the student artists at Detroit Mercy have a laboratory space, too.”

    Following a ribbon-cutting scheduled for 10 a.m. Monday, Sept. 29, the University will hold an invitation-only gala during the run ofTwelfth Night. Discounted tickets are available at special high school students and community members during the run of the show..

    “We look forward to seeing what our students can do with this incredible resource, and how the commitment to arts on campus will echo through the community,” said Grobis.

    Learn more about Detroit Mercy Theatre Company.

  • Stakeholders, all Titans invited to help shape new brand

    Friday September 26, 2025

    Three students gather around a table on their laptops, while one student stands.As 91˿Ƶ approaches its 150th anniversary in 2027, we have a chance to define a new future for the University and our entire community. One of the most critical elements of this future is a new brand, one that captures and encompasses the spirit, grit, faith, strength and pride that define Detroit Mercy.

    Today, 91˿Ƶ invites our alumni, students, faculty, staff, parents, neighbors and partners to help co-author this new brand. Working together, 91˿Ƶ is confident that we can develop a new brand that is authentic, inspiring and worthy of our Jesuit and Mercy mission.

    Why A New Brand Now?

    In 2016, Detroit Mercy launched the “Build a Boundless Future” brand. While this message captured the ambition and possibility that 91˿Ƶ offers, many felt it lacked the emotional resonance this University and our Northwest Detroit community deserved. Over time, feedback confirmed that this brand did not fully express what makes Detroit Mercy distinctive.

    For some, it was too abstract; for others, it didn’t reflect our history, mission or Detroit roots.

    As we look ahead to 2027 and our 150th anniversary, we see the need for a brand that not only promotes Detroit Mercy but embodies its essence: a Jesuit and Mercy institution shaped by grit, compassion, innovation, love of all people and faith.

    The Brand Process

    Two students work on their laptops in the foreground, while behind them a student works on her laptop.To ensure that this effort is rooted in authenticity, Detroit Mercy launched a three-phase process involving research, strategy and brand development.

    Phase 1: Research and Insights
    Working with partners such as Elevate Marketing Research, we studied how prospective students, parents, alumni and community members perceived Detroit Mercy through several research studies over the past two years. We examined peer institutions, explored what drives prospective student and parent choices when looking at which school to attend, and identified the words and values that resonate most with those who encounter 91˿Ƶ.

    Phase 2: Strategy and Engagement
    Through sessions with students, faculty, staff, administration, alumni, community leaders and board members, we asked hard questions: How do we see ourselves? What values define us? Which parts of our identity have been overlooked? These conversations challenged assumptions and revealed opportunities to more fully embrace our story. These conversations and sessions will soon continue during this academic year.

    Phase 3: Brand Development and Testing
    Next, 91˿Ƶ will collaborate with branding experts to translate these insights into creative concepts. These concepts will then be tested and refined with stakeholders’ feedback to ensure that the final brand is both emotionally resonant and forward-looking. And while this may help create a brand that everyone can get behind, we understand that not everyone may warm up to it from the start. It takes time for a brand to gain traction through action.

    A Guiding Idea: Titan Faith

    Two students talk while working next to bookshelves.While the new brand is still being developed, one concept has already emerged as a helpful guide: “Titan Faith.”

    “Titan Faith” is not a tagline but a way of describing the courage, pride and hope that runs through our community. It reminds us of the faith we place in God, in one another and in the transcendent Jesuit and Mercy values of 91˿Ƶ. It speaks to our grit, compassion, truth, love, joy and boldness—qualities that Detroit Mercy AND our city live out every day. This guiding principle will help point us toward a brand that is more than marketing. It is a shared identity we can feel, believe in and carry with pride.

    With the ongoing strategy sessions lead by GreenHouse::Innovation and the extensive outputs from these sessions, 91˿Ƶ now has a treasure trove of insights that will help inform and shape 91˿Ƶ’s new brand.

    What This Requires: Your Voice

    The strongest and most enduring brands are co-authored by the people who live the ideals and values of an organization. In short, a new 91˿Ƶ brand requires your heartfelt voice.

    Your perspective—as an alumnus, a student, a faculty or staff member, a parent, a neighbor or a supporter—matters deeply. Whether you have been part of the University for one year or 50, your experiences and reflections help define what Detroit Mercy truly is.

    Here are ways you can participate:

    • Be honest. Share what inspires pride in Detroit Mercy and where you see opportunities for growth.
    • Join the conversation. Participate in listening sessions, focus groups and other engagement opportunities.
    • Complete the feedback form. This simple but powerful tool allows you to record your insights and ensures that your voice shapes the brand directly. Visit the rebrand webpage, scroll down the page to “Info On Branding” and click on the feedback form.
    • Follow updates through Campus Connection, alumni newsletters and other Detroit Mercy channels as we move through this exciting process.

    A Shared Call to Action

    Branding for 91˿Ƶ is more than merely creating a new slogan or logo. It is about capturing the faith, mission and resilience of our University and neighborhood—and projecting it to the world in a way that inspires.

    As we prepare for our 150th anniversary, we need a brand that honors our past, reflects our present and propels us into the future. That brand must be created by all of us. Please help shape the next chapter of Detroit Mercy. Take a few minutes today to share your perspective. Your insights will help us craft a brand that resonates deeply, sparks pride and stands as a foundation of faith and hope for generations to come.

    Together, we will write a brand story that only Detroit Mercy can tell.

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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

kids and science camp A variety of summer activities available on 91˿Ƶ Campuses. Some are hosted by 91˿Ƶ; some are simply located on our campuses.

Summer Camps

Titan Equity Nourish Network (TENN)

students carrying bags of groceries

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.

TENN

Alliances and Initiatives

Reimagining the Civic Commons

91˿Ƶ 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

91˿Ƶ 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

students building a platform during a service immersion trip 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.

Service Immersion

Directories

Media Experts Guide

Image of media experts page

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 91˿Ƶ. 

Detroit Mercy Media Experts

Migration Research Directory

The 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.