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The Urban University: Catalyst for Renewal
By Irvin D. Reid
In September 2007, as I approached 10 years as president of Wayne
State University in Detroit, I announced my intention to step down at
the end of the academic year. As I look back at my presidency, I realize
the chance to lead a large urban research university was what most
attracted me to the institution.
The presidency of Wayne State became my dream job because of the
university's location in the heart of Detroit. When I arrived in 1997,
the city had been coping for 30 years with the aftereffects of one of
the worse urban riots in U.S. history. More than 40 people died,
businesses were looted and burned, and race relations began a
deterioration from which the city had still not recovered. Thousands of
white citizens deserted the city after 1967. Businesses failed rapidly
and the city's center became quiet in daylight and dark after nightfall.
Decades of inept government, poor services, and a dismal economy had
left Detroit one of America’s most ridiculed cities, even by other
Michiganders. . . .
Excerpted from the fall 2008 issue of The Presidency. To
subscribe to the magazine, please call (301) 632-6757, or order online
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| Excerpt The Urban University: Catalyst for Renewal Irvin D. Reid The Presidency fall 2008 issue |
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