U-M alum should stand for something other than football
University of Michigan football starts this weekend, and the alumni are excited to come out strong and support their team.
Calling all U-M alumni — the university also needs your support beyond football.
Most alumni know that the Trump administration has withheld federal research grants from U-M
. This has severely disrupted critical research and the training of future research scientists.Many alumni are less familiar with three current initiatives from the Trump administration which further threaten the university.
First, the Office of Management and Budget has proposed that all federal grants be approved by political appointees rather than by traditional subject-matter experts and peer-review boards. They are proposing an effective date of Oct.
1, 2026.
Second, the Department of Education has proposed an overhaul of the accreditation system. This would transform an apolitical system providing assurance of educational quality into a federally controlled tool for imposing ideology and limiting access. Comments on this proposed rule are due Sept. 21.
Third, the Secretary of Education has called on every college and university to publicly affirm their mission and commitment to “rigorous teaching, pathbreaking research, and national service" by Dec. 31, 2026, including detailing adopted and planned reforms in seven areas. This is an attempt to force colleges and universities to organize their missions around an agenda set in Washington.
Many alumni already help their alma mater by building the brand of the university through their own success, by recruiting prospective students, and through financial support.
Alumni can also engage in advocacy to defend their university. Today, the University of Michigan needs its alumni to join with university leadership in protecting the university from disruptive federal initiatives. Maize and Blue Courage, a volunteer organization of U-M alumni and allies, is engaged in this very advocacy. We provide education and networking activities which help U-M alumni to come out strong and support their university – not just on football Saturdays, but as long as the university needs us to defend and protect the premier public research university we hold dear.
Donald Levitt
This letter writer is the Chair of Maize and Blue Courage
The church calls us to welcome strangers
We write to express our concern about ICE and DHS policies and actions. Since January 2025, agents have shot more than 20 people resulting in six fatalities. More than 50 others have died in ICE custody and more than 71,000 remain detained. Daily arrests are pushing 2,000. The planned $20 million purchase of electric shock gloves deepens our concern.
Every human life is sacred. Yet fear and violence are growing. There are reports of ICE presence at citizen meetings where abuses are recounted and federal lawsuits against local authorities unwilling to support these tactics.
Grounded in the Gospel call to welcome the stranger (Matthew 25:35) and practice the other corporeal and spiritual works of mercy, we urge independent investigations, respect for our immigrant neighbors and the rule of law and an end to policies rooted in violence and dehumanization.
Rev. John Celichowski, OFM Cap.
Celichowski is writing on behalf of the Michigan Franciscan Justice Circle, part of the Franciscan Action Network
Bitely got it wrong on Benson, Brinks
I like to read opinion pieces on politics from varying perspectives. And I always read Andrea Bitely with interest.
But her opinion suggesting that the Democratic Party's candidates for governor and lieutenant governor, Jocelyn Benson and her running mate, Winnie Brinks, bear responsibility for what you may not like about Michigan, jumps the shark. ("The toughest question for Benson and Brinks is Lansing," Detroit Free Press, Aug. 21.)
Michigan's Legislature has been divided for half of the time SenateMajorityLeader Brinks has been in that role. In other words, without Republican cooperation, she could not get her agenda passed. But stubborn, unceasing opposition has been the Republican stance in the House.
As for Benson, I have noticed a major improvement in how the Secretary of State's office has functioned with major improvements in service to we citizens.
So, those things I like about how Michigan functions have often been the product of Benson's office, and those things I don't like have often been the product of unceasing legislative opposition in the House.
Robert Gilbert
Leland
Lost buildings are holes in Detroit's soul
I agree with the author's position about Detroit losing part of its legacy when it demos old buildings with nothing to replace but a parking lot. ("Detroit's future can't always come at the expense of its past," Detroit Free Press, Aug. 26.) One example is a building across from the Detroit Athletic Club on Madison. It was a brick building with large windows, about five or six stories tall. Quite the complement to the Athletic Club.
In the 1990s, when I began my legal career at 36th District Court I would walk past that building and think it would make a wonderful condominium building or modern housing unit. But no one saw the vision. Nowadays it would sell for seven figures. But it is gone, forgotten, and what's left is a patch of asphalt no one cares about. Just another hole in Detroit's soul.
Kevin Hammons
Farmington Hills
I'm mourning a hospital closure
I was sorry to read that Henry Ford Health is closing its facility in East China ‒ Henry Ford River District Hospital, effective Sept. 1. As a returning resident and former president of this hospital (1988-1997), I recall a time when this hospital had a vibrant maternity ward, busy operating rooms, inpatient services, diagnostic testing, an excellent emergency room and even an intensive care unit.
It began as a public authority hospital, then joined the St. John Health System which became part of Ascension Health System and more recently was transferred to Henry Ford Health System.
The hospitals' closure leaves St. Clair Country with two full service hospitals in Port Huron while none are located in the southern end of St. Clair County. The Detroit Free Press article included Henry Ford Health's statement: "The building itself currently requires substantial infrastructure repairs and modernization to continue operating, and investing in the building is not a sustainable long-term solution for providing the safe, high-quality care our patients deserve."
In an environment where Henry Ford Health is spending $2 billion on expansions and modernization of its downtown Detroit campus, one would have hoped that some investment in a hospital that has served the St. Clair community well while providing employment opportunities for residents would have been contemplated. I mourn the passing of River District Hospital.
John Knox
East China Township
Trump shouldn't tear down the Kennedy Center
I suspect most Detroiters have not had the wonderful experience of going to the Kennedy Center on a regular basis. My husband and I had season tickets while working in D.C. It was magical. When you walked in and saw that sculpture of JFK in the grand foyer, it took your breath away. While waiting to get into the theater, you could go onto the balcony and see the Potomac River just glistening and the lights of the city. The Kennedy Center even had a shuttle bus from the nearest subway stop to take you back and forth. What great memories … until now.
Trump putting his name on the building was bad enough but now threats of tearing it down because of being "dangerously dilapidated and structurally unsound" are just too much and something I don't believe.
I hope Congress will do the right thing and not let this happen. It is a wonderful place honoring a great president, something I believe Trump will never be.
Linda Richon
Macomb
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: U-M alum should stand for something other than football | Letters
