Wayne State University’s Detroit Orientation Institute will host Detroit 101, a half-day tour and conversation, on Dec. 7 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. The information-packed morning will begin with a bus tour through Detroit neighborhoods and destinations, including Midtown, Downtown, the riverfront, West Village, the Heidelberg Project, Eastern Market, the Avenue of Fashion and Palmer Park.
Participants will engage in conversation with community leaders along the route, including Ritchie Harrison (Detroit RiverFront Conservancy), Brittany Sanders (Belle Isle Conservancy), Vittoria Katanski (Hatch Detroit) and Kim Tandy (Mayor’s Office Department of Neighborhoods).
The DOI launched in 1991 to provide a historical perspective and candid look at Detroit and its region, at a time when media coverage of the city was particularly narrow and inflammatory. The program provided opportunities to visit key institutions and organizations and to interact directly with elected officials and community leaders.
The interactive event will conclude with lunch and a group dialogue — "Your Detroit? My Detroit? Our Detroit!" — led by Jeri Stroupe, senior project administrator and Detroit Revitalization Fellow at WSU’s Office of Economic Development. Joining the discussion will be Anika Goss-Foster (Detroit Future City), Kurt Metzger (City of Pleasant Ridge) and Shirley Stancato (New Detroit, Inc.).
Event: Detroit Orientation Institute: Detroit 101
Date: Wednesday, Dec. 7
Time: 2 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Location: TechTown Detroit, 440 Burroughs, Detroit 48202
Cost: $100 by Dec. 1, $120 thereafter
RSVP here
Space is limited. Breakfast and lunch are included. Scholarships are available for students on a case by case basis. Please contact jeri.stroupe@wayne.edu to inquire.
This event comes immediately after the Detroit Orientation Institute’s celebration of 25 years of programming on November 16 at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. The program was founded and first launched in 1991 in response to a recommendation in the City of Detroit’s 1987 Strategic Plan, a project led by the business leaders of Detroit Renaissance and informed by Mayor Coleman Young.
The Detroit Orientation Institute at Wayne State University engages business, community, media, nonprofit, political, civic and student leaders in immersive events that illuminate Detroit and foster connections. Participants visit the city’s neighborhoods and key institutions, interacting with change makers as they dig deep into the region’s history and current landscape. Groups are small and participatory, with long-time leaders and newcomers together exploring contemporary issues and opportunities. For more information, visit doi.wayne.edu.
Wayne State University is a premier urban research institution offering more than 370 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to nearly 28,000 students.