We come to another year’s end and we hope it was a good one for you.
It was for University of Detroit Mercy, where great things happened all year long. You read about a lot of them right here on this blog. We thought you might enjoy catching up on the stories that resonated the most with our alumni. So here are the top stories published on the blog this year.
By far, the most-read story of the year wasn’t even written by us, but by a student. We reprinted a speech Nursing student Elizabeth Yager gave to donors and friend of Detroit Mercy at the President’s Christmas Party earlier this month. We thought all alumni would want to hear her Detroit Mercy story and we were right. Barely a month old, the story was the runaway best-read post of the year.
A donation to the university for lights on Titan Field came in second place. Chuck and Joann Raeder’s gift of $100,000 toward the project was meant to inspire others to give to do the same. Look for good news about this potentially game-changing facilities upgrade in the new year.
Coming in at No. 3 is the story of how one alumnus’ ingenuity led to a program that helps fans spend more time watching a sporting event or concert and less time in line for the bathroom or snacks.
Our exciting announcement about new men’s basketball coach Mike Davis also attracted a lot of attention. Alumni, students, faculty and staff and the community are hoping he brings a new era of great basketball to Calihan Hall.
Rounding out the top five was a report on the impressive bar exam results of Detroit Mercy Law’s graduates. Spoiler alert: They blew away the competition.
Also among the top ten were features on three alumni who are following their own paths. Norah Duncan IV is a nationally known figure in liturgical music, Katie Rohrhoff found a way to help others face the same tragedy she did and Alan Haras combined his love of Eastern philosophy and his Catholic faith to create Ignatian Yoga, a movement that is not without controversy.
Readers also found new development projects near the McNichols Campus to be of interest.
The progress of the $100-million Campaign for the University of Detroit Mercy, a pivotal campaign raising money for scholarships, programming and faculty, facility enhancements and more — all things that will strengthen the University for the future — was of great interest to alumni. This story was published last March, and many things have changed since then — we are much closer to that goal and we expect to have great news early next year.
The campaign concludes Dec. 31, 2019. We hope the stories here show you the type of alumni we help build at Detroit Mercy, and a lot about the future of the University. Won’t you take a few minutes to help put us closer to the goal and maybe over the top by making your online gift today. Any gift made before midnight on Dec. 31 counts as a charitable contribution for this year’s taxes.
Thank you all and a happy 2019 to all of us.
When wil the residence halls join the new century? I fear we are passed up by many students who see Lawrence Tech with better facilities.
I have two students at the University. They love the University and its education and culture. The residence halls do need to be updated. The students do travel much to other colleges for weekends and see a difference.
I would agree with the two earlier postings, during my initial visit with my daughter my first impression was the many areas of crumbling concrete and dated dorms. First impressions last matter. I would suggest you publish your intended facilities upgrades to prospective students visiting campus