Faculty, Staff and Administrators

Detroit Mercy’s College of Health Professions Student Engagement Committee, MEAGN Program and Optometry Department will host a Trunk-or-Treat community event on Tuesday, Oct. 27, from 4-6 p.m. at the Novi Campus parking lot.

This safe, fun and family-friendly event will feature treats, games, activities and community resources for attendees of all ages. Costumes are encouraged.

All are welcome to stop by for some Halloween fun!

Titan Equity Nourish Network (TENN) is hosting a festive evening filled with cider and donuts, games, costume competition and prizes.

All are welcome to join in TENN’s annual Halloween game night on Thursday, Oct. 29, at 5 p.m. in the Briggs Building, Room 101.

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

Faith leaders and lay people will gather to pray for the election on Wednesday, Oct. 21, at 10:30 a.m., at Gesu Church’s social hall. All are welcome.

This prayer vigil will communicate faith-rooted support for voting and our elections in a spirit of togetherness. The intention is to bless non-partisan election officials, poll monitors and poll chaplains and to discourage attempts to suppress or intimidate voters or otherwise tamper with the election.

For students interested in attending with others from University Ministry, meet us at 10 a.m. at the University Ministry office.

“We are in an especially fraught and significant moment in our nation’s history, with active and at times successful attempts to gerrymander the vote or suppress turnout in areas that might not be favorable to a preferred candidate. Thus, we must be even more proactive. The Church is well within its theological mandate for inviting and training people to be non-partisan poll watchers or poll chaplains—and to stand firm in the face of intimidation.” Archbishop Weisenburger, Sept. 16, 2026—Participation, Dignity, Elections: A Catholic Theological Conference

As part of Detroit Mercy’s 150th celebration, the University will host The Best of Ireland: In the Footsteps of Catherine McAuley, a nine-day travel experience from April 5-14, 2027.

Walk in the footsteps of Catherine McAuley with fellow members of the Detroit Mercy community and explore historic and cultural Ireland, with stops in Dublin, Belfast, Killarney, Kildare and more.

For more details, please email Director of Alumni Relations Peggy Pattison at pattisma@udmercy.edu.

The College of Engineering & Science will host its 13th annual Undergraduate and Graduate Student E&S Research Symposium on Friday, Nov. 20, in the Student Union Ballroom and Fountain Lounge on the McNichols Campus.

This annual event showcases the work of UDM undergraduate and graduate students, with more than 100 research posters representing a wide range of disciplines taught at the University. Students can also highlight their work through SMORE videos, which present their research in 90 seconds or less.

Save the date and watch for more details about the symposium coming soon.

Detroit Mercy will host the 21st annual Great Lakes Bioneers Detroit (GLBD) Conference on Thursday, Oct. 15, in the Student Union Ballroom on the McNichols Campus.

This year, students, staff, administrators and faculty are invited to attend the environment-centered event for free.

The redesigned one-day conference will bring together community members of all ages to discuss critical environmental and social challenges and explore ideas for addressing them. This year’s theme is “Revolution from the Heart of Nature: Change Makers.” 

Conference topics include:

• The science behind sustainable living
• How pollution and renewable energy affect public health, especially in communities of color
• Youth leadership and environmental responsibility for community change
• Social justice and eco-spirituality
• Storm water management and flood prevention
• Water affordability and justice

The program features pre-recorded keynote presentations from nationally recognized thought leaders, including:

• Samantha Skenandore – Re-Evolving Indigeneity to Save Our Planet
• Brett KenCairn – Nature-based Climate Solutions: Centering Life to Heal the Planet
• Nina Simons – Living Between Paradigms
• Leah Penniman – Free the People! Free the Land!
• Julian Brave NoiseCat – The Epic Misadventures of the Trickster Coyote

Pre-recorded performances by Destani Wolf, the Destiny Arts Youth Performance Company, and Garth Stevenson, along with inspiring youth leadership presentations by Coley Kakols Miller and Kyle Trefny, highlight the important role young leaders play in creating a more sustainable and equitable future. 

The Great Lakes Bioneers Detroit 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.

The 2026 McElroy Lecture on Law and Religion series provides a forum for prominent thinkers and leaders to address fundamental issues of law, religion and society. The 27th annual lecture is set for Tuesday, Oct. 20, at 5 p.m., in Room 226 of the Riverfront Campus. A reception follows the lecture in the atrium.

This year’s lecture, titled “What Is Justice For? Law, Power, and Human Dignity” will be presented by Jelani Jefferson Exum, Dean and Rose DiMartino and Karen Sue Smith Professor of Law at St. John’s University School of Law.

The lecture explores the question: What does justice require of a legal system that has the power to punish, police and profoundly shape people’s lives?

Jefferson will explore the relationship between legal power, human dignity and the purposes of justice. Her lecture will address the values that should guide the exercise of legal power and the role of legal education in cultivating an understanding of lawyers’ responsibility to preserve human dignity.

Jefferson served as the Dean and Philip J. McElroy Professor of Law at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law prior to her current position at St. John’s University. A widely recognized sentencing scholar, her work on sentencing, comparative criminal law and procedure, policing and the impact of race on criminal justice has been widely published. She serves on the New York State Justice Task Force, on the editorial board of the Federal Sentencing Reporter and as Secretary of the Neighborhood Defender Service, Inc. Board of Advisors.

The 2026 Bruttell Endowment in Social Ethics presents “Redemptive Tech: How Silicon Valley Gained Moral Authority from the Microchip to AI,” a lecture featuring Becca Lewis, Ph.D., assistant professor in Comparative Media Studies at MIT.

This event will take place on Wednesday, Oct. 28, at 7:30 p.m., in the Student Union Ballroom. The talk is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be available.

How did America first come to pin its hopes and dreams for the future on Silicon Valley? And how has that dream soured for some, while only growing stronger for others? This talk explores how political and business writers in the 1970s and 1980s portrayed Silicon Valley as a solution to America’s economic and moral challenges, a vision that shaped the Valley itself and continues to influence the ethical and political debates surrounding emerging technologies.

Lewis holds a Ph.D. from Stanford University. Her work examines the ideas and politics that shape Silicon Valley and the internet, with a particular focus on right-wing ideology. Her work has been published in academic journals including New Media & Society, Social Media + Society and American Behavioral Scientist, and in news outlets such as The Guardian and New York Magazine.

For any questions, please contact Chair of the Department of Religious Studies Todd Hibbard at hibbarja@udmercy.edu.

The event is co-sponsored by University of Detroit Mercy College of Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences and the Department of Religious Studies.

Headshot photographs taken during MarCom’s headshot event on Oct. 5-6 are now available for the University community to download.

The photos can be downloaded from this OneDrive folder. 

Want to use your headshot on your person page? After downloading it from the OneDrive folder, employees can submit the photograph and any additional updates through MarCom’s web request form by clicking “Create/Update a bio (person) page.” 

Person pages are biographies for employees who are in public facing positions such as full-time faculty at the University.

The Center for Career & Professional Development will host a career panel featuring several members of the Corewell Health team, offering students an inside look at the many ways to build a career and make an impact within a leading healthcare organization.

The panel will take place on Monday, Oct. 26, from 5:30-7:30 p.m., in the Student Union Ballroom. Panelists will share how their diverse roles contribute to Corewell Health’s mission to improve health, instill humanity and inspire hope.

Panelists include the following:

• Andreise De Souza – Staff physician
• Jan Harrington-Davis – SVP of Talent Attraction and UDM alumna
• Imana Minard – Director of Nursing, Emergency Services
• Jerry Price – Advisor, Belonging Partner
• Emani Jacobs – Clinical specialist lead and licensed medical social worker

Students and alumni from all UDM majors are encouraged to attend to explore career possibilities, hear firsthand advice from professionals in a variety of fields and learn how Corewell Health invests in the growth and development of its people.

With any questions, please contact careerlink@udmercy.edu or 313-993-1017.