Stickers consume the cover of Cindy Muñoz’s once-gray laptop. There are rainbow hearts, campus friend Bruce the Goose and a bouquet of flowers with words that say, “These are the times to grow our souls.”
“I have to be honest,” says Muñoz, a College of Arts, Sciences and Letters undergraduate student. “I added stickers to be like the kids around here.” At age 70, Muñoz — with a light blue backpack slung over her right shoulder — is on campus twice a week, taking classes to jumpstart the next chapter of her life. She enrolled at UM-Dearborn in Fall 2024 to earn a bachelor’s degree in women’s and gender studies. Her goal: A career that focuses on social justice work.
Muñoz, who retired from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan during the pandemic, says advocacy work always interested her. But her parents, who struggled financially, were concerned about money. “At my parents' urging, I focused on money and not my interests when I was younger. Then the years went by faster than I realized. It’s incredible how long and short time can feel at the same time,” she says. “But it’s never too late to make a change. That’s why I’m here.”
As Muñoz sits in the CASL Building atrium on a recent Tuesday afternoon, she reflects on her past year at UM-Dearborn. During that time, she celebrated her 70th birthday. “I spent my birthday golfing with a friend because the weather was beautiful that day," she says. “It was on a Friday, so I didn’t need to think about homework or class.” She’s made new friends. Sophomore Zanab Al-Bedany, an English major, stops by Muñoz’s table and they discuss grabbing coffee. And Muñoz thinks about how combined life experiences have brought her to this point.
As a child, Muñoz witnessed domestic violence. As a pre-teen in Detroit, she saw tanks roll down her street during the 1967 Detroit riots. As a young adult, she experienced sexual harassment on the job. “Fifty-plus years may have passed and these issues are still present today. Advocacy work is needed to create lasting change,” she says. After a pause, Muñoz continues, “Speaking of 50-plus years ago — that’s when I was first a student at UM-Dearborn. It’s taken me a little while to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up.”
In 1973, Muñoz attended UM-Dearborn for one semester at age 18. She took two different political science classes — taught by Professors Emeriti of Political Science Ron Stockton and Frank Wayman, who retired in 2021 and 2023, respectively — where students were encouraged to discuss current events. “There was a lot on our minds at the time, like the Vietnam War, Roe v. Wade and nuclear war. Those classes were so eye-opening and engaging. I thought about majoring in political science, but my dad told me that I should think about money. I ended up getting a good job at Michigan Bell as a keypunch operator and dropped out,” she says. After Michigan Bell, Muñoz did administrative assistant work at Sinai Hospital in Detroit and Ryder Logistics in Novi during the 1980s.
She then eyed a project manager job at Ryder Logistics in Novi in 1990. “I had been doing project management work as a secretary and I knew I was good at it,” she says. But Muñoz needed a college degree for the role. Remembering her UM-Dearborn classes fondly, she returned to the university and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in political science in 1995. After Muñoz landed a Ryder project management job, she continued her education and earned a Master of Arts in education in 2002. She did this while building her business resume. At Ryder, she passed the Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification exam and became a certified associate in project management, which later helped Muñoz secure a senior project manager role at Blue Cross Blue Shield. “It all sounds great, but the truth is that I didn’t have the courage to switch careers,” she says. “I hoped one day I’d be able to use my college degrees the way I wanted. Political science and education are also important in advocacy work. It’s coming together — one day is getting closer.”
Muñoz is especially passionate about women’s rights and plans to dedicate the rest of her life to social justice work. She says the UM-Dearborn students she’s met give her hope for the future. “There is so much diversity at UM-Dearborn — Black, brown, white, gay, straight, old, young — and these students get along and look out for each other. Everyone was so welcoming when I got here,” Muñoz says. “They inspire me.” Students say Muñoz inspires them too. “Cindy is great at listening and giving support when I come to her looking for guidance,” Al-Bedany says. “She’s been through a lot. If she can get through life’s challenges, so can I. She gives great advice, too.”
What bits of advice does Muñoz share? Here’s one: “No matter how old you are, you will always have fears. Just keep taking baby steps.” And another: “Keep yourself busy so you don’t focus on other people. If you start complaining about a neighbor's car parked in front of your house, it’s a sign you need to find something to do.”
Thinking about words of wisdom, Muñoz points to that floral sticker on her laptop. “It says, ‘These are the times to grow our souls’,” she says. “That’s a quote from Detroit civil rights activist Grace Lee Boggs.” Muñoz picked up the sticker when attending the National Women’s Studies Association Conference with Associate Professor of Political Science Lara Rusch’s Women, Politics and the Law course last year.
Closing her laptop, Muñoz gets ready to head to an afternoon class. She reflects on the ways Boggs' words apply to her life. “It’s about transformation,” she says. “That’s why I’m at UM-Dearborn. I’m here to follow my dreams so I can be a voice for other people to pursue theirs.”
Story by Sarah Tuxbury
