Adia J. Palmer Memorial Scholarship

The Adia J. Palmer Memorial Scholarship Fund honors the talents and legacy of Adia Palmer, a Senior Communications Studies major, who died unexpectedly in March 2022. Students and faculty at Detroit Mercy remember her as a talented writer with a good heart and memorable laugh. Palmer, 21, was well-known on campus and spent time working in the library, writing for The Varsity News and volunteering for Titan Equity Nourish Network (TENN).

Kaelyn Johnson, a former Communications Studies major now studying Theatre, said Palmer was one of the first people she met when Johnson transferred to Detroit Mercy and that they shared many classes together.

“Whenever I walked into the library, I knew I would see her at the front desk, and I knew that I could look forward to our small talk,” Johnson said in an interview. “She was very eager to learn about all things film and art. We would talk about our classes, and she always asked me about things we were working on in the Theatre Company. She was a light at our university, and I was heartbroken when I learned of her passing.”

A gifted poet, Palmer submitted a poem titled Moving to the 52nd annual Dudley Randall Poetry competition that wowed her professors enough that they hung a copy of it on the second floor of the Briggs building.

“Adia was fierce but also sensitive,” English Professor Amanda Hiber wrote in a tribute posted by the department. “She spoke her mind but listened closely, too. She was keenly perceptive but completely self-possessed. She was self-protective but capable of great vulnerability. She’d look at you with the utmost skepticism and then break into that laugh. If you knew her, you’d know that laugh. You’d never forget it.”

Professor Jason Roche, who teaches a number of courses in the Communication Studies Department, said students loved working with Palmer on group projects.

“She was very creative, very thoughtful and just a good person to be around,” Roche said. “She was in one of my classes in winter of 2020 when we had to transition to online learning because of COVID-19. She produced and directed a very memorable video essay project about planting a garden and how it helped her with the stress of the pandemic. Adia had a good heart. She’ll be greatly missed”

Donations by check can be made out to University of Detroit Mercy with Adia J. Palmer Scholarship in the memo line and sent to: