Board Member and Alumna REvisit Student life
University of Detroit Mercy Board Member Christine Cortez and Alumna Kathy Horgan ’73, ’84, recently spent the night in the West Quad residence hall with students from the Peace and Justice Community. During their overnight stay, Cortez and Horgan experienced life as a student living on campus – eating meals in the student dining room, watching movies in the floor lounge and participating in a service project.
Cortez and Horgan offer the following thoughts about their visit:
Living on Campus
Chris: “The students told me that the group living on campus is pretty close and that they find a lot to do socially. There are a number of clubs or groups affiliated with certain departments and also fraternities that supply adequate social opportunities. They also feel that class size is small enough that they have good contact with the professors.“Kathy: “I found the visit to be extremely enlightening. The students were bright and articulate. The rooms were certainly no worse than the dorm rooms that my daughter and son lived in at public universities. Security was also tight – without being too much.”
Service
Chris: “My most striking impression came from our Saturday morning activity. The Peace and Justice floor voluntarily commits themselves to 15 hours of service each semester. We happened to be there during one of their projects, which they call Sandwich Bus. They collect lunch makings from any stores offering a discount. Together, we made 150 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, which they drove into the city and distributed to homeless people.I believe that UDM's commitment to service learning is exemplified by such a group and the choices they are making. Those choices will follow them through their adult lives and will lead to an expression of UDM's mission in their professional and social lives.”