University of Michigan President Santa Ono says he’s leaving Ann Arbor to take the same job at the University of Florida this summer.

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Ono announced the move in an email to the U-M community Sunday night. He said it’s been an honor to lead the school, which hired him away from the University of Cincinnati in 2022. 

Ono faces a lawsuit from eight former U-M workers accusing the school of firing them over their support for Palestinians.

The Detroit News reports the plaintiffs are also suing the Board of Regents and other administrators, alleging the university violated their First Amendment right to protest.

Three of the former employees took part in a sit-in at the president’s office. The other five demonstrated outside the U-M art museum. A spokesperson had no comment on the case. 

–Reporting by Pat Batcheller, WDET News

More headlines for Monday, May 5, 2025:

• The Michigan Global Talent Initiative wants 60% of the state’s workforce to get a post-secondary education or professional certificate by 2030.
• The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) is joining efforts to raise awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) Awareness Day on May 5.
• The Division of Victim Services provides grant funding to federally recognized tribes for domestic violence through the StrongHearts Native Helpline, an anonymous confidential hotline for Native Americans and Alaska Natives. To contact the helpline, call 1-844-7Native or visit strongheartshelpline.org to chat.
• The city of Detroit is launching a Summer Youth Arts Employment Training Initiative to train and hire teens for summer jobs.
• Dearborn’s Economic Development Department and the American Arab Chamber of Commerce is hosting a resource fair from 4-8 p.m Wednesday, May 14, at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center.

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.

This year marks a time of transition in the city of Detroit.

Voters will elect a new leader of the city to replace long-time Mayor Mike Duggan, who is leaving to run for governor.

And experts at the think tank Detroit Future City predict the new mayor will face several challenges, like building new infrastructure to handle flooding and power outages.

But the group’s CEO, Anika Goss, told WDET one of the core issues the city must focus on is growing a sector some analysts say is disappearing — Detroit’s middle class.

The following interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Anika Goss, Detroit Future City: We use the language of “middle class,” but you can also use the language of “middle wage,” those within the median income for Detroit. And this particular demographic trend we really feel is important, because this is generally your tax base. They are staying in homes, buying homes, investing in their communities. And we want to focus on this because it is the largest demographic to leave Detroit.

Quinn Klinefelter, WDET News: What would you advise Detroit’s next mayor to do to help grow that segment of the populace?

AG: First, develop the neighborhoods. Make the neighborhoods places that would retain and attract middle-class households. The second issue is, how can Detroiters grow wealth and remain in Detroit? What kind of jobs are there nearby and available that actually have a middle-class wage, not only entry wages but also growth wages. It’s an environment that also creates strong businesses and entrepreneurs that can actually grow their own business. These are elements that can appeal to middle-class households. Two other things that I think are really important, and this can be tough for mayors, but they’re going to have to figure out property taxes. They are still uneven and very, very high in Detroit. So really thinking about what can we do to stabilize and lower the property tax rate. And second, work cooperatively with the schools, public and private and charter, so that the education system in Detroit also becomes something to attract and retain families.

QK: When you talk about raising incomes, outgoing Mayor Mike Duggan has touted how many companies he says have located in the city over the last decade or so. And oftentimes those businesses are supposed to give first preference for new hires to Detroiters. The city also has work training programs available. Would you say the next mayor should they try to build on that or go beyond it somehow?

AG: I think build AND go beyond. I think what was great about the Duggan administration is that he did really set this environment of Detroit being a place for you to invest in. And it was at a time when a lot of companies were not thinking of coming here. Now they are. But what we found is that a lot of the companies are still looking at Detroit proper as a place for low-wage labor. We have to really market Detroit as a place that has talent for a diversity of income ranges. Really work with these companies to ensure the jobs that we’re receiving in Detroit are jobs where you can actually grow your wage over time. I feel like there were really good deals made for low and moderate wages earners. There are people who are out of work that definitely need those jobs. But we can’t just stop there and declare it a success. We have to also really consider how we bring in other jobs and prepare Detroiters for those other jobs that are making a higher wage.

QK: Along with the income and job situation, people in the city have talked for years about the overall development in Detroit seeming to focus on the downtown area. And how does it get out to the neighborhoods? Duggan, for one, had launched a series of projects to try to strengthen various blocks in the city. Again, is there something you think the next mayor should do to go beyond that? Or should they try some entirely new approach?

AG: I think that it will be imperative for the next mayor to take the Strategic Neighborhood Fund and other neighborhood initiatives even further. To really create neighborhoods that have a diversity of housing choices, that have amenities and that are looking at places for investment in these areas. There’s still several neighborhoods in Detroit where there are no mortgages, whole census tracts that do not have mortgages in Detroit. The next mayor will have that challenge of not just stabilizing the strategic neighborhood places but also thinking about where else throughout the city can we target for a variety of households and a variety of incomes. You should be able to live in a neighborhood and increase your income and not have to move out of the city. You should be able to identify neighborhoods where you can do that. And right now, even with the Strategic Neighborhood Fund initiative, there’s still only 12 middle-class neighborhoods in Detroit out of more than 200 census tracts. We still have a long way to go.

QK: Do you think there’ll be enough funding available to push such efforts?

AG: There’s never enough money to do all of the things that we want to do. You really are going to have to prioritize. And if the North Star for the next mayor is, “How do we actually lay out a growth plan for Detroit and Detroiters?” That’s a very different proposition than thinking broadly about how to make Detroit better. I feel like the Duggan administration got us to this point. It’s really important now for the next mayor to take it even further. It’s something that is absolutely imperative. I don’t see an alternative.

Some university faculty members across the Big Ten system want the schools to pool resources to help defend each other if the Trump administration threatens their funding or programs.

Those schools include the University of Michigan, where the faculty senate voted overwhelmingly to approve a non-binding resolution creating such an alliance.

Michigan State University’s faculty senate also voted recently to ask the school’s administration to enact the joint-defense proposal.

MSU Faculty Senate Vice Chair Jack Lipton told WDET the measure stems from a recommendation first developed and passed by educators at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

The following interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Jack Lipton, Michigan State University Faculty Senate: They had come up with this idea to create an agreement that ran like NATO, “an attack on one is an attack on all,” and propose this out to the schools who are part of the Big Ten Academic Alliance. We took it up with the idea that the federal government, through executive orders, is trying to control what universities are doing through intimidation, through loss of funding. And by going after schools one at a time, it’s difficult for schools to mount an effective defense when they are looking at potentially losses of millions to hundreds of millions of dollars in their funding. Soultimately the faculty senate, which is an advisory body, asks that our president lead with the other presidents of the Big Ten in pushing back against what we consider to be inappropriate and unlawful incursions into the academic mission of private and public universities.

Quinn Klinefelter, WDET News: What would this have the university do if, in fact, administrators accepted it?

JL: The university would put funds into a central repository that would be accessible to all members of the Big Ten, and also utilize human capital, with respect to the offices of the General Counsel and their attorneys. They would work together to mount defenses of any member school if they are challenged by the federal government, through these executive orders, with a loss of funding where they’re targeted based upon perfectly legal actions as universities. They’re all following Title 9 regulations related to students. A lot of what the federal government is trying to do is to say that schools are involved in unlawful discrimination, when the schools are actually supporting equity and inclusion, which this particular administration doesn’t seem to be particularly fond of. Giving all people equal opportunity to gain access to higher education, whether it’s through their work or through education or through jobs.

QK: Have you had any reaction yet from the Michigan State administration as to whether or not they might follow your recommendations?

JL: I’ve not. Anything that we pass in the faculty senate is strictly advisory. It’s our sense of what should be done and the university president has no obligation to act on our resolution. I would hope that as it garners continued public attention, the president will work with other big Ten leaders to try and figure out some way to support each other so that we’re not essentially picked off one by one.

QK: There have been a number of faculty senates now throughout Big Ten schools that have either voted for this proposal or seem to be considering it. There were some on your faculty that were a little iffy about doing it. Why is that?

JL: Everyone looks at this differently, right? Some individuals feared that by the very fact we’re considering this, we are putting a target on our backs for the federal government to act specifically against Michigan State University. And there were some that had some trepidation regarding passing it. But then there were others who specifically study things like authoritarian regimes and human rights, they felt this is really that critical point when we have to decide whether we are going to do the right thing or we’re going to do the safe thing. While differences of opinion were clearly present, ultimately, when it came to a vote, we shut off debate and it passed. I think that most faculty are obviously concerned about passing something like this. But even despite that, they saw the value and the appropriateness of taking a stand and making a recommendation. We really want to ensure that higher education can continue to maintain its high ideals and be a place where academic freedom and free speech can be lauded and expected.

“Seeing an administration that is so contemptuous of higher education, so contemptuous of freedom of thought and freedom of expression, is really alarming; they are trying to silence faculty by using the power of the purse and withholding federal funding.”

– Jack Lipton, MSU Faculty Senate Vice Chair

QK: You’ve been involved in high-level academia for decades now. Have you ever seen something similar to this in regards to the federal government’s view of and actions towards higher education?

JL: I don’t think anyone has ever seen anything like this. The post-World War II expansion of higher education has been kind of a crown jewel of the United States. The growth of higher education, the growth of universities, particularly public universities like Michigan State University, have been such a gift to this country. And seeing an administration that is so contemptuous of higher education, so contemptuous of freedom of thought and freedom of expression, is really alarming. They are trying to silence faculty by using the power of the purse and withholding federal funding. We all use those funds in our research, like I and the people in my department do to work on neurodegenerative diseases and find the causes and cures of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. They are trying to hold those kinds of funds hostage so that we’ll be quiet. I think that’s wrong, and I’m hopeful that this is a sad, yet brief chapter in American history when it comes to higher education.

Good teachers can be hard to find and even harder to keep, especially in districts with limited funding and high needs. 

But a recent report from Detroit PEER researchers at Wayne State University’s College of Education found that Detroit Public Schools Community District has a teacher retention rate above the national average. 

To learn more about the report’s findings, Metro Producer Cary Junior II spoke to its lead author, Bianca Burch.

Lakia Wilson-Lumpkins, president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers, also joined The Metro to discuss changes the district is making to retain teachers. She also spoke about the unique and untold challenges teachers currently face.

View the full report at detroitpeer.org.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

More stories from The Metro on Monday, April 28, 2025:

• Political analysts say Canada’s federal election is the most important in decades
• New MOCAD exhibit to highlight contributions of Black tech innovators
• Detroit Councilwoman Santiago-Romero is suing to get back on August primary ballot

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

More stories from The Metro

There are more women attending college in the U.S. than men, enrollment data shows. 

And more women have college degrees today than men of the same age. Research shows the more education a person gets, the lower their chances are of living in poverty.

Today on The Metro, we’re having a conversation on why boys are struggling with two people who are working to help Black boys find success right here in Detroit — Black Male Educators Alliance Founder Curtis Lewis and Bottom Line Executive Director Danielle North.

We’re looking at this approach through the Black lens because while all boys are struggling, Black boys are falling behind the most. 

We also asked listeners:

“Why do you think boys aren’t going to college at the same rate?”

Adelia in Detroit said: “There are a couple of discussions about this matter centered around Black boys and men, and their traumas inflicted upon them through centuries and years. And even as recent as days and months, centered around white domination and supremacy…and so that’s the root that has to be kind of rooted out and try to capture it and heal our young men, and our grown young men and our grown older men of color in America.” 

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

More stories from The Metro

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Last school year, the number of Michigan students who missed more than 10% of school days was among the highest in the nation, at nearly 30%. The rate among Detroit students was more than double that. 

Wayne State University researchers Jeremy Singer and Sarah Lenhoff argue schools alone cannot solve the problem. They say local and state leaders must enact policies that address some of the roots causes of chronic absenteeism, like poverty.

Their new book, “Rethinking Chronic Absenteeism: Why Schools Can’t Solve It Alone,” urges school and government leaders to focus less on what happens in schools and more on the many systemic factors that make getting to class tough for students and their families. 

Singer, a professor of teaching at Wayne State University and associate director of the Detroit Partnership for Education Equity and Research, joined The Metro to explain.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

More stories from The Metro on Monday, April 14:

• New series explores health care education, access for Bangladeshi women
• Detroiter tapped to lead National PAL’s youth mental health and wellness program
• New campaign demands accountability, systemic change for survivors of child abuse
• Highland Park is replacing its 115-year-old water system

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

Over 3,000 faculty, staff and students at the University of Michigan held an emergency meeting after the university announced it would close its Office of Diversity Equity and Inclusion.

The closure is a response to the Trump administrations efforts to end DEI programming at colleges across the country.

The announcement, which reportedly resulted in at least 10 staff terminations, came as a shock to many across campus.

“It was just kind of, you know, a mixture of faculty and students and staff that were concerned about what’s going on and kind of felt blindsided by this,” said Mariel Krupansky, a lecturer at U-M.

Concerns raised during the meeting included the treatment of non-union staff, job security for DEI-aligned roles, and broader implications for academic freedom.

Krupansky also shared fears that decentralizing DEI programs could leave students without accessible resources.

“I predict that students will have more trouble finding out that they even exist and know that they have access to them,” she said.

Krupanksy said while she believes that DEI programs may have been an imperfect tool, the university’s decision was not reflective of the whole campus.

“I think the fact that over 3,000 people tried to show up to an emergency meeting… is evidence of that,” she said. “For those people who are doing that work every day, this is devastating.”

UM-Flint took a different approach to the announcement and rebranded DEI efforts under the umbrella of “Wolverine Hub of Opportunity, Persistence, and Excellence,” or HOPE.

“The fact that U of M Ann Arbor chose not to go that route, I think is telling,” Krupansky said.

She adds that the university’s decision to close the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion under threats from the Trump administration sends a bad message.

“President Ono, the regents and other university administrators are telling [Trump’s administration] that the university can be threatened into compliance and that they are not willing to litigate or challenge executive orders that clearly extend beyond the executive’s constitutional power,” Krupansky said.

University staff, faculty, and students launched the website umdeidefense.com to keep the campus up to date on future news and efforts to push back on the decision.

The University of Michigan responded to an interview request by saying it’s “passing on interview opportunities at this time.”

The federal government has terminated the visitor status of four international students at Wayne State University and several other universities throughout the state.

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WSU President, Dr. Kimberly Andrews Espy, says the school discovered the move while checking its Student and Exchange Visitor Information System.

She says the U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not notify the university or the students before terminating their status. Espy says the school is working with those affected and is advising all international students and staff to consult visa and immigration resources.

Several universities across the country — including the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Central Michigan University, Saginaw Valley State University and Grand Valley State University — have also reported that immigration records were removed without notice.

Ari Harris, a spokesperson with CMU, told WCMU Public Media their affected students will have to re-apply for admittance or leave the country, as the university cannot reverse the terminations.

“This is of course, is very frightening for those students and the reasons that they were terminated are, are not always clear to them or to us,” she said, affirming that neither the university or the impacted students received notification of those status changes.

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

–WCMU student reporter Blace Carpenter contributed to this report. 

Other headlines for Tuesday, April 8, 2025:

• Local police, state lawmakers and Detroit officials endorsed legislation to create a new public safety and violence prevention fund. The bipartisan bills would take a portion of sales tax revenue and let cities and counties use it to reduce violent crime. State House leaders say they plan to hold a vote on the bills next month. 
• The state is offering more than $18 million in grant funding to up to 25 agencies or organizations helping homeowners with weatherization and energy efficiency. 
• The city of Detroit’s Returning Citizens Task Force is hosting a Second Chance Employment & Resource Fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 12, at the St. Suzanne CRC Resource Center, 19321 W Chicago St. The event promises attendees an opportunity to meet with employers who are hiring and connect returning citizens to career resources.
• People for Palmer Park is hosting a Doggie Health and Wellness Fair from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 26. The team from the park’s Unleashed Dog Park and the Michigan Humane Vaccination Clinic will offer health checks, microchipping and low cost vaccinations, as well as free doggie goody bags, a buffet of dog treats, raffles and giveaways. 
• Palmer Park’s volunteer organization is also planning the “Trash and Treasure Hunt” to celebrate Earth Day later this month. Volunteers of all ages can do some forest clean up while searching for “Aziza Fairies.” There will also be live music, art installations and a chance to build a fairy door, bird house or butterfly art. 

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Diversity, equity and inclusion is going away. It’s been the story for businesses and colleges in America over the last month. 

With pressure from the Trump administration and from the U.S. Department of Education, the University of Michigan and a number of other universities have removed their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion offices. 

But it’s not just the White House that doesn’t like DEI. It’s been criticized by some professors, students and public commentators as well.

Metro Producer Sam Corey sat down with two professors to understand how DEI programs work and what could happen as they go away. Robert Sellers is a professor of psychology and education, and the first chief diversity officer at the University of Michigan. Stacy Hawkins is a Rutgers professor, diversity consultant and DEI expert. 

The Metro has reached out to several University of Michigan regents who helped usher in the end of DEI practices and programming. We are still waiting to hear back from those state-wide elected officials. 

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

More stories from The Metro on Monday, April 7:

• Mallory McMorrow wants to bring a new generation to the US Senate
• Curbing the impulse to buy more stuff
• Former Sleeping Bear Dunes superintendent warns of cuts to national parks, public lands

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

Wayne State University announced Friday that a WSU alumnus has made a historic $50 million donation to its College of Engineering — the largest single gift made to the university in its 157-year history.

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The donation from alumnus James Anderson and his wife, Patricia, will be used to improve faculty support in the College of Engineering, including doctoral fellowships, undergraduate student experiences and a dean’s fund to improve recruiting efforts for top faculty and Ph.D. students.

School officials are calling the gift “transformative,” allowing the university to “build on more than a century of engineering talent that created a culture of innovation in our city,” said WSU President Dr. Kimberly Andrews Espy, in a news release.

The college has been renamed the James and Patricia Anderson College of Engineering in their honor.

James Anderson is the president and CEO of Urban Science, a leading automotive consultancy and technology firm headquartered in Detroit. In 2014, the Andersons established The James and Patricia Anderson Engineering Ventures Institute at WSU’s College of Engineering to help foster a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship among students and faculty.

“Since my time as a student, and later a faculty member at Wayne State University, I’ve witnessed firsthand the power of a quality STEM education in transforming lives, economies and communities,” Anderson said. “My wife, Patricia, and I are humbled and grateful for the opportunity to expand our commitment to this renowned institution.”

Other headlines for Friday, April 4, 2025:

• Bridge Michigan reports that two west Michigan housing projects — one to support those in drug recovery and the other for low-income workers — are in jeopardy because of funding cuts from the Trump administration.
• The Greater Detroit Agency for the Blind & Visually Impaired is hosting its “Life Beyond Sight” 5k Walk on Saturday, April 12, at The Lexus Velodrome in Detroit, in support of the agency’s essential programs.
• Detroit’s 23rd annual Greek Independence Day Parade has a new route due to construction, and will begin at 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 6 at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral on E. Lafayette Street before turning right on Beaubien Street.

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.

The University of Michigan is closing its office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and shutting down diversity initiatives campuswide, in response to executive orders from the Trump administration and internal discussions on campus.

The moves were announced in a campus-wide email from university President Santa Ono and other top leaders Thursday afternoon.

The changes will also affect the Office for Health Equity and Inclusion at Michigan Medicine.

In the email, university leaders acknowledged the diversity initiatives had been successful on some measures.

“First-generation undergraduate students, for example, have increased 46% and undergraduate Pell recipients have increased by more than 32%, driven in part by impactful programs such as Go Blue Guarantee and Wolverine Pathways,” the email read. “The work to remove barriers to student success is inherently challenging, and our leadership has played a vital role in shaping inclusive excellence throughout higher education.”

The University of Michigan has frequently been at the center of conversations about diversity on college campuses; it was the defendant in two lawsuits that reached the Supreme Court in 2003, resulting in rulings that partially struck down affirmative action programs on campus at the time.

Last year, the New York Times reported on UM’s diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, saying the university had poured more than a quarter of a billion dollars into the programs since 2016, but many critics remained on campus.

In 2023, the university launched what it called its DEI 2.0 strategic plan, which was announced as a five-year plan to run through 2028. On Thursday, the university announced it would abandon the plan, as part of the other cuts to diversity, equity, and inclusion programs on campus. It said it would also update university websites to remove mentions of the DEI efforts.

In a post on the social media site “X”, university regent Sarah Hubbard said cutting the DEI offices on campus would free up money to spend on other student programs.

Today the University of Michigan is ending implementation of DEI.

We are eliminating programs, eliminating affiliated staff and ending the DEI 2.0 strategy.

Late last year we ended the use of diversity statements in faculty hiring. This is now expanded university wide and…

— Sarah Hubbard, Regent @umich (@RegentHubbard) March 27, 2025

“We are eliminating bureaucratic overspending and making Michigan more accessible,” Hubbard wrote, citing the expansion of the Go Blue Guarantee scholarship program, which had previously been announced by the university.

Editor’s note: The University of Michigan holds Michigan Public’s broadcast license.

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Student loan debt is massive in the U.S., totaling $1.7 trillion. There are over 42 million student borrowers with federal loan debt, and the cost of tuition keeps going up. 

Since 2010, the cost of attending college has gone up more than 35%. After adjusting for inflation, college tuition has increased nearly 200% since 1963.

Trump promised to dismantle the Department of Education when he was elected, and has since followed through. He cut the department’s workforce in half and signed an executive order to shut it down, saying education should be entirely in control of the states, not the federal government. Last week, Trump announced that the administration of federal student loans would now be the responsibility of the Small Business Administration.

The Department of Education’s primary functions included administering federal student loans and payment plans for college students and graduates, making college accessible for students of all income levels. 

Today on The Metro, we talk about recent administrative changes with Michelle Zampini, the senior director of college affordability for The Institute of College Access & Success. The federal financial aid system is raising concerns about potential processing delays, legal challenges, and impacts on access to loans and grants.

The importance of programs like Pell Grants and income-driven repayment plans was emphasized, along with concerns that administrative breakdowns could hinder their availability.

More stories from The Metro on Wednesday, March 26, 2025.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.