Michigan's First Gentleman, Dan Mulhern, came to campus
to recognize those who have given of themselves to help
others.
Mulhern and five others were honored at the "Washtenaw
Celebrates Mentoring" awards ceremony hosted by Eastern
Michigan University at the Student Center Jan. 25. The
countywide observance was part of the National Mentoring
Month activities that coincided with National Thank-Your-Mentor
Day.
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MULHERN RECOGNIZED: (above, right) Dan
Mulhern,
Michigan's First Gentleman, displays the
EMU
baseball jersey he received from (left) Freman
Hendrix, EMU's chief governmental relations officer.
Mulhern was recognized during a "Washtenaw
Celebrates Mentoring" awards ceremony hosted
by
EMU at the Student Center Jan. 25.
|
The event, sponsored by VISION and the Department of Diversity
and Community Involvement, along with the Washtenaw Youth
Mentoring Coalition (WYMC), recognized six people who have
volunteered to guide a young person, helping them to define
and achieve personal goals.
"Every child deserves to have a stable, caring adult in
its life," said Mulhern, who leads Mentor Michigan, a state
initiative to promote mentoring. Mulhern, husband of Gov.
Jennifer Granholm, mentors two youth in the Lansing area
through Big Brothers Big Sisters. "It's
not just about giving and getting. It's a relationship.
"Mentoring is alive and well in Michigan, and I applaud
the mentoring programs that are providing our children
with high quality programs that build character and competence," Mulhern
said.
Honorees were: Christopher Leonard, a senior in secondary
education from Ida, Mich., EMU First-Year Mentoring Program;
Shara Cherciak, Reach Out Michigan; Daniel Gunitskiy, Hikone
Community Action Network (CAN); Ron Hunemorder, Washtenaw
Trial Court Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA); John "Tad" Wysor,
The Village Initiative, and Kate Zajac, Ann Arbor Center
for Independent Living.
Mentored youth are 46 percent less likely to start using
drugs than their unmentored peers, according to the Child
Trends Research Brief of 2004. The brief also found that
mentored youth in one mentoring program skipped half as
many days of school as their unmentored peers and were
53 percent more likely to attend college.
EMU President John Fallon stressed the importance of mentoring
to the University. Involvement and engagement are key,
he noted, saying, "It is part of the DNA, this relationship
between the University and the community."
Community engagement and public service are two of the
critical areas defined by the 18-member Visioning Task
Force formed by the University in 2005. One of the goals
of the University in this area would be to address local
needs with University expertise.
Mentoring is a vehicle that could accomplish that goal
while providing numerous benefits for those involved. Developing
problem-solving and critical-thinking skills for mentees;
the opportunity to receive direct assistance; reinforcing
relationships for the partners; for the mentors, sharing
one's skills and understanding as well as learning from
mentees; and giving back to the community were some of
the benefits noted by Fallon.
"This has been one of the best experiences," said
Leonard of his volunteering. "I really just wanted to be
sure others didn't make the same mistakes I did. I learned
just as much from my students as they did from me. We also
developed some friendships."
The WYMC recently launched a Web site, www.washtenawmentoring.org,
through which potential mentors and mentees can connect
via one of the more than 20 local youth-focused organizations.
Since its founding in March 2006, WYMC has recruited 88
mentors for youth in their member organizations.
For more information, contact Jennifer Chapin-Smith,
community mentorship coordinator, at (734) 971-0277, ext.
23; or e-mail her at jchapin@aacil.org.
