Tuesday, August 21, 2018

Another Detroit Accomplishment

It has been a very long day.  At least that is how it seems to me.  I was up at five a.m. so that I could leave my home by seven and avoid traffic and the rain storm that was soon to arrive.  I was on my way to the Scholarship Breakfast and then the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for the new Mike Ilitch School of Business in Downtown Detroit.
I have mentioned in the past that I earned my Master in Business Administration from Wayne State University.  I only had two classes down on the main campus in what was then the business school building.  Other classes were at satellite facilities nearer to my home.  

Three years ago, Mike and Marian Ilitch, Detroiters and founders of Little Caesars Pizza, donated $40 million to build a new school of business next to their Little Caesars Arena.  And today the building opened up just in time for classes to start next week, with 4,000 undergrad and grad students enrolled in the school.

The morning started with a reception for donors and scholarship recipients.  Unfortunately, the young woman who received my scholarship was unable to attend.  But I did get to speak with several other scholarship winners and they were fantastic.  Here is the atrium where we had our pre-program breakfast.
The building has LOTS of glass.  It is open and refreshing compared to many university classrooms.  How about this classroom?
Need a place to sit down and have lunch or a chat with a classmate?
Even the stairwells are decorated.  This is just one of many murals.
But the 'piece de resistance' is certainly the Dean's patio on the fourth floor facing Woodward Avenue.  What a view!  Here are several.
 Lion's Stadium, Tiger Stadium, and Renaissance Center
 First Presbyterian Church of Detroit with Medical School complex in background
 Townhouses in the city
 The patio
 A view with the arena and YAY! some public transportation.  Without the Detroit bus system, I would have been unable to attend college.

When I got home I went online to search for videos since I had not wanted to bother with taking videos on my tour of the building.  The first one that popped up was interesting.  And then I noticed that I was in it.  In the video below I am the one in the light colored top on the left.  We were just getting ready to leave the patio when  a photographer called us back for a photo op.  The news and camera folk had descended upon us.

P.S.  Apparently the woman who called us back for a photo was from the Detroit News, as our pic appears in today's paper.  Of course, it is so small no one would ever know who we are, lol.

6 comments:

  1. I am in awe that you can give a scholarship...that is just wonderful. Too bad she could not attend but glad you were there and these are some nice pics of Detroit

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    1. Well, my donation is now where near $40 million, lol. But I attended school on a full scholarship and always wanted to give back.

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  2. I feel the same as Birgit. Well done. Pity the girl could not attend. That is quite some building but I wonder if the classroom views wouldn't distract somewhat.

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    1. One of the students I talked to said she would be wiggling in her seat. But I think you would get used to it after awhile. Better than the old buildings with no windows at a ll.

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  3. What lovely views. And to be able to work in such an open classroom is unusual and refreshing. So glad you had a good time. Sounds like you're pretty involved there?

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    1. Involved only in terms of giving them some of my hard-earned money, lol. But they do treat their donors very well and show appreciation to us. Let's see, I had some yogurt and two cookies at the event. I get invitations to lots of events, but attend very few. Did more when I was younger.

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