13 THINGS
YOU DIDN’T KNOW
A Sweet Study
Michigan’s craft brewing industry has grown to include mead, a fermented honey beverage dating back to ancient times. Now, Cory Emal, chemistry professor and mead-maker himself, is leading colleagues and students in nuclear magnetic resonance analysis of each honey variety. The resulting molecular profiles will give brewers proof of the provenance and purity of their honey—which is important since cases of honey fraud, and the dilution of the pure product with other syrups, have been documented.
State Leader in African American Engineers
Eastern Michigan University has the highest percentage of African American students in engineering and technology programs in Michigan, according to the American Society for Engineering Education. EMU’s 11.4% is more than double the state average of 4.6%. Eastern’s GameAbove College of Engineering and Technology reports the highest percentage of African American graduates of engineering and tech programs: 10.5% compared to the state average of 3.1%. Mohamad Qatu, dean of the GameAbove College, credits the Digital Divas and Digital Dudes programs, along with community partners like the Engineering Society of Detroit, as key factors in EMU’s success.
First-gen Forward
Eastern Michigan University has received the First-gen Forward designation, a national honor recognizing institutions committed to improving experiences and outcomes for first-generation college students. Selected institutions receive professional development, community-building experiences, and a first look at research and resources available at the Center for First-generation Student Success. EMU’s selection also allows representatives to attend the First-gen Forward Workshop this summer, as well as participate in monthly calls, professional development, goal setting, blog development, and annual reporting. The Center for First-generation Student Success is an initiative of Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education and The Suder Foundation.
Stewarding STEM
EMU’s Southeast Michigan Stewardship (SEMIS) Coalition has received the MiSTEM Network’s Critical Partners Award for its outstanding work in advancing STEM culture and equitable access to STEM careers. Led by Ethan Lowenstein, EMU professor of teacher education, and Lisa Voelker, educator and EMU alumna, SEMIS Coalition projects have included student design and building of outdoor learning spaces, as well as naturalized landscape solutions to remediate flooding.
Come As You Are, Leave with the Gold
Eastern Michigan University received a gold award for its “Come As You Are” advertising campaign at the annual Educational Advertising Awards, the largest competition of its kind in the country. The campaign, featuring six EMU students in individual 30-second videos, highlights Eastern as a place where students can be their authentic selves. A national panel of higher education marketers, advertising creative directors, and marketing and advertising professionals judged the competition, which received more than 2,000 entries.
Can't Stop the Coding
A unique collaboration took shape in the department of physics and astronomy recently: a music video to encourage student engagement and stress the importance of coding in physics. The project was the brainchild of Ernest Behringer, professor and interim department head, who wrote the lyrics for “Can’t Stop the Coding,” set to the 2016 Justin Timberlake song “Can’t Stop the Feeling.” Behringer enlisted communication major Shelby Smith to produce the video and physics research major Avital Keely for choreography. Eight students appeared in the video, as did Behringer, who didn’t miss a step in the big dance finale.
Eagle Investors
Eastern’s Eagle Investment Fund (EIF), student-managed and supervised by College of Business faculty, has outperformed the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index with a 9.99% rate of return since its launch in March 2019. The EIF began with a virtual $100,000, and has since received $60,000 from the College of Business and an additional $50,000 from the EMU Foundation for future use in a live brokerage account. Returns could help members pay for conference fees and College of Business or other university initiatives. Visit the EIF website to join the fund or become a benefactor.
NSF Grant Funds EMU, Rogue Space Systems Collaboration
The National Science Foundation has made a $271,381 research and development grant to Eastern Michigan University and partner Rogue Space Systems to enhance academia-industry partnerships in physics and astronomy. The grant will fund a prototype hall effect thruster, a propulsion system that produces thrust by creating and accelerating ionized gas using a magnetic field. Thanks to the grant, EMU students will gain hands-on experience and receive stipends while working on the project with Evan Aguirre, Rogue propulsion engineer, and Surabhi Jaiswal, EMU assistant professor of physics and astronomy.
Gotta Love Those Links
Golfpass, a golf-and-travel website, recently named the Eagle Crest Golf Resort (home of Eastern’s men’s and women’s golf teams) the 13th-best college course in the country. College golf courses must offer public access to be eligible for a ranking. Eagle Crest’s 18-hole layout, which features distinctive holes and spectacular Ford Lake, climbed three places from last year's rankings, and 12 spots from 2021, when it first cracked the top 25. Recent recognition for Eagle Crest also includes a No. 5 ranking among the top 10 courses in metro Detroit by the Detroit Free Press.
Mosaics with a Message
For EMU biology professor Aaron Liepman, LEGO is an artistic outlet. Using hand-painted rectangular blocks in shades of white and black, Liepman recently created large murals taking on civil rights themes. The unrest of 2020 spurred Liepman to learn more about U.S. civil rights history, resulting in “Revolutionary,” which depicts Dr. Martin Luther King speaking at the 1963 Los Angeles Freedom Rally. In “Selma to Montgomery,” King walks arm-in-arm with other protestors on the historic Alabama march. The 16,000-block piece was on display throughout Black History Month at the Ann Arbor Public Library.
Military Honors
For the sixth consecutive year, the Military Friendly® program has named EMU one of the best military- and veteran-friendly universities in the country. Eastern ranks first in Michigan and second in the nation for 2023-24. This honor follows last fall’s recognition by Military Times, which ranked Eastern first in Michigan and ninth in the U.S. In 2014, Eastern established its military and veteran support center—later named in honor of the late alumnus U.S. Army Lt. Colonel Charles S. Kettles. The center expanded its services in 2015 after receiving a TRIO-Veteran Student Support Services Grant from the Department of Education.
Navigating Better Health Outcomes
Tsu-Yin Wu, professor of nursing at Eastern’s College of Health and Human Services, received a federal cooperative agreement award of nearly $800,000 in 2021, and has been helping the uninsured and other underserved communities ever since. The three-year Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Navigator award allows Wu and her bilingual team to connect communities in Calhoun, Kent, Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties that have historically had less access to health coverage and experienced greater disparities in health outcomes. The three-year grant provides $794,730 annually and runs through August, 2024. Eastern’s navigator program is one of 59 across the country.
An Educational Safe Haven
Eastern Michigan University, in collaboration with Jewish Family Services of Washtenaw County, has created the New Future Fund scholarship to help refugee students continue their studies after leaving their countries. The two organizations provide on-campus housing, English as a second language classes and other support services for refugees like Lada Protecheva, a student forced to leave Ukraine after the Russian invasion. University officials hope the New Future Fund will become a permanent scholarship, allowing future refugee students to attend Eastern.