Mike DiGiovanni ’70, ’72 has had many roles at University of Detroit Mercy.
He was a student, a graduate student, adjunct then full-time faculty.
His latest role is as a volunteer to raise funds for a cause dear to his heart: The GM Student Corps.
The GM Student Corps was founded in 2013 by GM President Mark Reuss and a group of GM employees and retirees, including DiGiovanni, as part of a commitment to advance education, jumpstart student careers and support the community.
The goal of the GM Student Corps is to develop professional skills in the students, engage them in their communities and provide mentors and guidance as they progress.
GM hires small teams of students from challenged high schools across southeastern Lower Michigan to participate in the Corps. These high school interns are paired with a college intern and two GM retirees who serve as mentors during the summer program and beyond. High school interns attend trainings to develop important skills such as business etiquette, networking and financial literacy. Each team works together to select and manage their own community service projects that benefit their schools, neighbors and community.
“For many of the students, the GM Student Corps experience is their first real job, with a real paycheck,” DiGiovanni said. “It may also be their first exposure to certain life skills, finance, college, leadership opportunities, public speaking and many more elements of the program. The program provides an opportunity for students to see beyond their circle of friends and experience the feeling of giving back to their community and school.”
The UDM’s College of Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences (CHASS) hosts the GM Student Corps each July for “A Day in the Life of a College Student” event that gives students a taste of college life with sample classes in a number of areas. Students also play basketball with the men’s and women’s basketball teams and coaches, eat in the Titan Dining Room, visit the residence halls and learn about applying and paying for college from the UDM Admissions team.
The scholarship portion of the program is new. The first award will be made to an incoming freshman next fall and follow them until they graduate.
DiGiovanni says creating the scholarship is a full-circle moment for him. His father often told his family that he hoped at least one of his sons would go to college. DiGiovanni was that son and he attended U-D on a full scholarship. His father would never know his dream had come true; he passed away when DiGiovanni was 15.
“The Student Corps scholarship is exactly what happened to me,” he said. “So I know what this scholarship and this university can do to change a student’s life.”
During a 31-year career with General Motors, DiGiovanni helped conceive and was the executive in charge of the automaker’s iconic Hummer, a civilian version of the military Humvee that took the nation by storm.
“It was the greatest five years of my life,” he said.
This year he was honored with the Spirit of Detroit Mercy Alumni Award for being a leader in his field and the community.
“I was given this advantage and now I am able to give that to someone else,” he said. “It’s a blessing.”
You can donate to the Michael DiGiovanni GM Student Corps Expendable Scholarship Fund at udmercy.edu/donate.
