Faculty, Staff and Administrators

Help support Safety Street, Detroit Mercy’s 37th annual trick-or-treat event, by donating candy and sweets to ensure a fun, safe and successful time for the Detroit Mercy community.

The faculty or staff department that donates the most candy will win a pizza party, and the student group that donates the most will win $300.

Bring candy donations to the Student Life Office, located in the lower level of the Student Union. Donations will be accepted by Student Life through Monday, Oct. 26, at 5 p.m.

Detroit Mercy School of Dentistry will host a free Trunks, Treats and a Movie event on Thursday, Oct. 29, in the parking lot of the Corktown Campus.

Open to the Detroit Mercy community and the public, this evening will feature decorated trunks, treats, live DJ entertainment, a trick-or-treat bag decorating station and an outdoor screening of the Halloween favorite, Hocus Pocus.

Trunk-or-treating will begin at 6:30 p.m., followed by the movie at 7 p.m. Guests can enjoy the movie from the comfort of their vehicles or bring lawn chairs for outdoor seating.

The event is weather dependent, and updates or cancellations will be posted on the event’s Facebook page. Guests are asked to leave pets at home, with the exception of service animals.

University Ministry and the Muslim Student Association will host a post-prayer social on Friday, Oct. 30, at 1:30 p.m., at the University Ministry office, located on the Lower Level of the Student Union.

Following Friday Jummah prayer or daily Mass, all are welcome to stop by for a social gathering and open house with tea and food.

Regular prayer and Mass schedule:

• Jummah prayer: Fridays at 1 p.m. in the Fountain Lounge of the Student Union.
• Daily Mass: Monday through Friday at 1 p.m. in the St. Ignatius Chapel, Commerce & Finance Building

For questions, please contact oajerd@udmercy.edu.

Each year, the University of Detroit Mercy conducts a Day of Giving, which provides an opportunity for Titans around the world — alumni, community members, parents, friends, faculty, staff and students — to join together and show support for the University.

In 2026, the Day of Giving for UDM is Tuesday, Dec. 1 (National Giving Tuesday).

This will be a 24-hour event to raise money for areas and projects around the University through our crowdfunding platform. It will be primarily promoted through social media, texts and students to alumni emails.

We are in the process of collecting campaigns to include on this day.

If you have a project/campaign you want to have included, please complete the campaign worksheet form found here you project description and goal. In order to have enough time to build out the platforms for each campaign, the campaign worksheet form for each campaign must be completed and submitted by Monday, Nov. 2.

If you would like more information or a presentation about Day of Giving, please contact Director of Annual Giving Judy Wernette at wernetjm@udmercy.edu.

University Recreation is holding a free community bike ride on Tuesday, Oct. 20, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Enjoy a fun afternoon exploring Detroit’s surrounding neighborhoods alongside fellow students and staff. The ride will be at a comfortable pace, making it perfect for cyclists of all experience levels.

Check-in begins at 11 a.m. at the Whitty Student Fitness Center, with the ride starting at noon. Participants can bring their own bikes or reserve one of ours for free. After the ride, stick around for free lunch, and registered participants will also receive a free event T-shirt while supplies last.

Spots and rental bikes are limited, so don’t miss out. Register today at IMLeagues to secure your spot and reserve a bike.

Come out, get active and enjoy a great afternoon with your fellow Titans.

The first 50 students receive a free T-shirt at Saturday’s Titan men’s soccer game as the squad hosts rival Oakland. First kick from Titan Field is set for on 6 p.m. Oct. 17, from Titan Field.

It’s Senior Night for the Titan men’s soccer squad against its crosstown rival from Rochester. The senior class will be honored starting at 5:30 p.m. ahead of the first kick against the Golden Grizzlies.

Get to the soccer game early; all UDM students get into soccer matches for free.

University of Detroit Mercy will host a fall graduate program open house on Tuesday, Oct. 27, from 5-7 p.m. in the Fountain Lounge of the Student Union on the McNichols Campus.

Prospective students interested in learning more about UDM graduate programs, including in-person and online options, will have the opportunity to meet with faculty, program representatives and Graduate Admissions staff.

Attendees may stop by at any time between 5-7 p.m. to ask questions, explore graduate program options and learn about the admission process. Register for graduate open house.

Nearly every UDM graduate program will be represented, except for the Dental, Optometry and Law professional programs and the Clinical Psychology doctoral program.

For additional information about UDM graduate programs, contact Associate Director of Graduate Admissions Jennifer Goethals at goethajm@udmercy.edu or at 313-993-3309.

View a listing of all UDM graduate programs.

Detroit Mercy students, faculty, staff and alumni are invited to cheer on the Detroit Pistons as they tip off the 2026-27 NBA season in their home opener against the Boston Celtics on Tuesday, Oct. 20, at 3 p.m., at Little Caesars Arena.

Tickets start at $24 and include a $10 credit for concessions or merchandise.

Arrive early to enjoy pregame activities in the plaza and live entertainment.

Use your Detroit Mercy email address to access tickets.

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.

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