Good afternoon, and thank you to Wayne State’s leadership and Board of Governors for including community in the selection and investiture of President Espy. I am honored to have participated on the search committee and in today’s program.
Dr. Espy’s appointment is historic. Not only is she our first woman president, she is an accomplished leader who has reached great success in her career while, amazingly, raising seven children with her husband Paul. Her wealth of personal and professional experience indicates characteristics of hard work, perseverance, and an unwavering commitment to excellence. She exudes a passion to ensure that every student has an opportunity to learn, thrive and earn a degree and is committed to enhancing the diversity and culture of inclusion to provide a more equitable future for all. In her words, “Wayne State’s doors are open to all, we must leave no one behind.”
I’ve witnessed a tireless champion in Dr. Espy. Already in her first few months as president, she has demonstrated a willingness to be open, to listen and to learn about our communities. She is showing up everywhere, listening and requesting feedback and inspiring our community toward a shared vision of strengthening Wayne State and its relationships with the community and the city.
She clearly recognizes that the greatness of any university is achieved and enhanced by the deep collaborations and partnerships with community. Such partnerships create solutions for ever-evolving needs and pressing challenges. Who can forget the extraordinary partnership Wayne State had with MDHHS and ACCESS during the historic pandemic. Wayne was at the forefront in addressing the urgent need to test and vaccinate people to save countless lives and to ensure a healthy community throughout the Covid crisis. Another significant partnership was with LA SED and New Detroit that helped create the Latino en Marcha program 52 years ago which is today’s Center for Latino and Latin American Studies, a national model of success in meeting the education needs of our Hispanic community. The Consortium of Hispanic Agencies, of which my organization SER Metro is a member, has supported CLLAS since 1971, and the Center experienced great progress under Dr. Wilson’s tenure. The CHA is eager to strengthen this partnership to grow the Center to ensure it enrolls and graduates more Latino students and continues to achieve the distinction as a successful program.
Our community must be a steadfast and active supporter of the university, its faculty, staff, students and academics. We are on this journey together to help build a stronger Wayne State that people will want to attend, and that will continue to contribute to our city and state.
Let’s celebrate this historic event by wishing Dr. Espy a long and successful tenure as President of Wayne State University. May God bless her and her family and guide us as we all work together to lead Wayne State into a new era of success…. Thank you.
Editor’s Note: Eva Garza Dewaelsche is the President and CEO of SER Meto-Detroit, Jobs for Progress and also the Publisher and Owner of EL CENTRAL Hispanic News.
