[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 169 (Thursday, October 11, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6813-S6814]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              150TH ANNIVERSARY OF WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY

 Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, today I wish to pay special 
tribute to Wayne State University, which this year is celebrating 150 
years.
  Michigan is home to many world-class colleges and universities. 
However, what has set Wayne State apart from the very beginning is its 
unique role in serving the people of Michigan from the heart of 
Detroit.
  Wayne State traces its roots to 1868, when five physicians who had 
witnessed the very worst of human suffering on Civil War battlefields 
vowed to change medicine for the better. They founded Detroit Medical 
College. Its motto: Salus Populi--Suprema Lex.

[[Page S6814]]

The Welfare of the People is the Highest Law.
  A lot has changed since those early days. Today more than 27,000 
Warriors from 80 countries are earning degrees in everything from 
accounting to manufacturing engineering, orchestral studies to urban 
planning, but one thing has not changed at all: Wayne State's 
dedication to people's welfare. For 150 years, Wayne State has been 
making Detroit and our State stronger and creating true leaders.
  It is doing that at the Integrative Biosciences Center, a 127,000-
square-foot, $90 million facility dedicated to studying and eliminating 
health disparities, and the National Institutes of Health's 
Perinatology Research Branch, which has helped more than 20,000 at-risk 
mothers and babies.
  It is doing that at the brand-new Mike Illitch School of Business, 
which is creating the next generation of business leaders while helping 
revitalize the corridor between downtown and midtown.
  It is doing that through its Wayne Advantage-Macomb program, which 
allows students to begin to earn their degree at Macomb Community 
College, and the Warrior Way Back program, which helps students who 
didn't receive their degrees get back into class while easing their 
student debt burden.
  It counts among its alumni people who have excelled in nearly every 
field: Dr. Joseph Ferguson, class of 1869, the first African-American 
medical school graduate in Michigan; Helen Thomas, class of 1942, dean 
of the White House Press Corps; Emmett Leith, class of 1949, recipient 
of the National Medal of Science; Philip Levine, class of 1950, Poet 
Laureate of the United States and winner of the Pulitzer Prize; Damon 
Keith, Wayne State University Law School class of 1967, U.S. Circuit 
Court of Appeals; Garth Fagan, class of 1969, winner of the Tony Award 
for Best Choreography for ``The Lion King''; Mark Fritz, class of 1978, 
winner of the Pulitzer Prize for international reporting; Dr. Carmen 
McIntyre, class of 1990, creator of the Mental Health First Aid 
Training program; and Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, class of 2006, whose 
careful research helped discover elevated lead levels in the children 
of Flint.
  Hundreds of thousands more alumni, famous or not, can credit Wayne 
State in part for their success, but so too can hundreds of thousands 
of people who have been educated, inspired, represented, protected, 
entertained, and treated by those graduates. I think those original 
five physicians would be extremely pleased with the impact their school 
has had not just on Detroit but on our Nation.
  Since 1868, Wayne State University has been building leaders. 
Congratulations to students, faculty, staff, and alumni on 150 years of 
putting the welfare of the people of Michigan first.
  Thank you.

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