His Oct. 1 forum wasn’t Domenico Grasso’s first trip back to the Dearborn campus since the former UM-Dearborn chancellor was tapped this spring to serve as U-M president. He’s actually been a pretty frequent visitor: He’s been co-teaching an Honors class here every Wednesday with Professor of Psychology Marie Waung. However, last week’s forum was his first official visit as president, and he used the time to brief the campus community on some recent developments on the Ann Arbor campus as well as issues impacting UM-Dearborn. In case you weren’t able to attend, we’ve recapped some of the big takeaways from the forum below. Or you can watch it on YouTube.
Grasso is focused on restoring the public trust
The dominant theme of Grasso’s remarks was a need to restore the public’s trust in U-M and higher education institutions more generally. Over the past several years, the divisive politics of the era and rising costs have eroded confidence in universities and the role they have traditionally played in bettering society. “We really have to underscore the value of this institution to the region, to the nation and to the world,” Grasso said. “We’ve lost a little bit of ground in this because we’ve lost the public trust. One of my goals … is to reacquire the public trust and I want the University of Michigan to take the lead in this.” Several times during his remarks, he made the case for the uniqueness of U-M, citing features like its three campuses that serve different demographic groups, the incredible breadth of its academic programs and faculty expertise, its world-class medical center, its powerhouse athletics programs and its more than $2 billion research enterprise. Nowhere else, Grasso argued, will you find all of those things “under one roof.” He noted that he is talking up the value and importance of U-M to “everyone who will listen” and urged all faculty and staff to do the same. “We were established in 1817 in the public interest. We have remained there ever since, and we have to underscore that … everything we do is directed to the public interest,” he said. “Among all three campuses, we have 7,000 faculty members. What I’m asking all of you who are faculty members — and staff members — is to consider yourself as public intellectuals. We need the intelligence, the vision and the talents of all the people who work at our universities to reach out to the public and explain why what you’re doing on our campuses is important to the health, well-being and welfare of every citizen in our country. We have not been able to do that effectively."
Grasso also noted that he’s met with dozens of Jewish and Arab American community organizations over the past several months, in hopes that "we listen to each other with intellectual empathy." He added: "We’ve had a relatively quiet start to the year, and I hope that it continues this way and that we listen to each other … and really take advantage of that and try to accommodate everyone’s feelings in a respectful manner."
He’s seizing the moment to boost U-M’s national profile
Despite the challenging atmosphere for higher education, Grasso sees this as a moment to boost U-M’s profile as a leader among leaders. He cited UM-Ann Arbor’s robust financial footing and cash reserves. “We are strong. We have never been stronger,” he said. He also noted the university is leveraging its political allies in Washington and its huge alumni base to promote U-M and the value of higher education.
Grasso mentioned several initiatives that will support this effort. In conjunction with the current Look to Michigan fundraising campaign and U-M’s strategic vision (previously known as Vision 2034), the university is launching its first national public relations campaign in history, which will target audiences in major American cities, including Los Angeles, New York, Washington D.C., Chicago and Seattle, as well as the Detroit area. The broad effort will include print and digital advertisements in publications like The New York Times and The Atlantic, as well as less traditional media, like podcasts, with a message emphasizing U-M’s capacity to serve as a leader “in directing the future of our nation.” Grasso also said the university is investing $250 million in a new institute focused on the rapid commercialization of biomedical discoveries, with an emphasis on AI and the biosciences. In addition, the university is investing $50 million in a new institute dedicated to civil discourse, which will seek to bring “various perspectives together in constructive ways to talk about sometimes bitter and divisive topics that have separated people for so long.” Grasso said he intends to launch both of these new institutes before he departs the president’s office.
Issues impacting the Dearborn campus
Grasso highlighted a few issues specific to the Dearborn campus. He shared a short update on the U-M presidential search, noting that the consulting firm Spencer Stuart had started to identify “small groups of candidates” and that a broad array of constituencies have been able to weigh in on what they’d like to see from the next president. UM-Dearborn’s Senior Director of Human Resources Rima Berry-Hung is representing Dearborn on the presidential search committee. Grasso said the confidential search for the next UM-Dearborn chancellor is now beginning, and a search committee, co-chaired by UM-Flint Chancellor Laurence Alexander and UM-Dearborn Provost Ghassan Kridli, will be announced soon. The plan is to announce a selection for both the president and chancellor in January 2026.
Grasso also noted that he hopes the $5 million recently allocated to each of the regional campuses to support growth in enrollment, retention and graduation rates would be “in perpetuity,” as long as the regional campuses are seeing progress in those areas.
Best of the rest
- The College of Business plans to offer a Tech MBA program at the U-M Center for Innovation, which will strengthen UM-Dearborn’s ties to this Detroit-based U-M location, which is expected to open in spring 2027.
- On a personal note, Grasso mentioned he’s adjusted well to the new role, remarking that he’s still having fun despite sleeping less than he ever has in his life, including his years in the military. As much as possible, he’s trying to find time to mingle with students — like during his “Prez Quiz” spot at home football games, where he asks students trivia questions. In addition, he noted how impressed he was with the fortitude of the students in the Michigan Marching Band. “These students work so hard in the band. They were telling me, in the first several weeks, they get to campus early and work 10-12 hours a day during practice. The average weight loss is 20 pounds per person. That’s how hard they work,” he said. Grasso, an engineer by training, also pointed out that 40% of the musicians are engineering students.
- In response to a question about whether the Dearborn, Flint and Ann Arbor campuses could coordinate efforts to increase enrollment without competing with one another, Grasso noted that he has proposed that the regents consider a strategic enrollment plan for UM-Ann Arbor to determine the "optimum enrollment” for the university. UM-Ann Arbor has seen enrollment gains of almost 10% since 2021. When students apply to the Ann Arbor campus, they also are automatically granted the option to share their application with UM-Dearborn and/or UM-Flint, giving them an opportunity to enroll at one of the regional campuses if they are accepted there but not at Ann Arbor.
- On the importance of regional campuses: “There is so much greatness on each of the campuses and we want to take advantage of all of it,” Grasso said. “Dearborn and Flint serve different populations, have different perspectives and really complement the perspectives that are in Ann Arbor.” He encouraged faculty and staff to share ideas with Chancellor Gabriella Scarlatta, who he noted is doing an excellent job representing the campus at executive officer meetings and with the regents.
- Grasso mentioned that the timing of the campus forum — during UM-Dearborn’s 2025 Homecoming Week — wasn’t accidental. “I love Dearborn. It’s terrific to be back here.” Grasso said. “Dearborn will always have a special place in my heart.”
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Story by Lou Blouin
