Talk about a winning team: A group of Wayne State University students were the grand-prize winners of two prizes in the Student Design Summit, a competition to find the “voices of young people” on a once-in-a-lifetime project to design a plaza that connects the Detroit Institute of Arts and its neighboring Midtown cultural institutions.

Valerie and Tony Russell are rolling. On a 90-degree day in late May, their SUV cruises the streets of Detroit’s Osborn neighborhood, their home.

A native Detroiter, Morisseau (BFA ’00, theatre) began writing plays as a student at SMTD, studying with Professor OyamO (Charles Gordon). Her three-play cycle, The Detroit Project, includes Skeleton Crew, Paradise Blue, and Detroit ’67.

Striving to implement transformational social change, the University of Michigan’s Center for Social Impact has encouraged students to find innovative ways to positively impact the city of Detroit.

The Social Impact Challenge is an opportunity for students to collaborate on graduate and undergraduate teams across a dozen U-M schools and colleges to tackle complex social issues in a competitive environment with real-world implications.

Throughout the year, the Detroit Center hosts meetings, lectures, workshops, and performances, annually drawing more than 20,000 visitors.

As a kid, Detroit native Stephen Henderson, AB ’92, often typed his opinions regarding the local news and mailed them to the Detroit Free Press.