University of Detroit Net Position $367,257 (000) | Strategic Plan 2025-2029
Titans of innovation ✨
The Titan Innovation Fund was introduced to spark innovation at UDM. It supports new, creative ideas that improve the University and student experiences by ensuring that they receive the resources and support needed to survive: https://t.co/tbLwUxkbEb pic.twitter.com/LfqM7Sup1p
— University of Detroit Mercy (@detmercy) January 9, 2025
Detroit (meaning “strait”, a narrow passage of water toward Lac Érié ) was founded in 1701 by French explorer and military officer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac. This was the first permanent European settlement in what is now Wayne County Southeast Michigan and one of the earliest above tidewater in North America. Before the French arrived, the area was inhabited by Native American tribes (Ojibwe, Odawa, Potawatomi, and others). Relations between these tribes and the newcomers from Europe were a mix of alliances, trade, intermarriage, and violence.*
Detroit remained under French control until 1760 (when the British took it during the French and Indian War). Many French families stayed even after that. Detroit still has strong French roots — street names, family surnames, and neighborhoods like Grosse Pointe and Ecorse trace back to those early French settlers. European immigrants to Southeast Michigan — drawn by economic opportunities enabled by the American founding documents (personal responsibility, religious tolerance, limited government, fiscal conservatism) — came in waves for the better part of 150 years.
- Poland — Largest group by WWI era, especially in Hamtramck.
- Germany — Early dominant group (1830s–1880s peak). (Indian Village)
- Italy — Major wave 1890s–1910s. (Little Italy)
- Ireland — Significant 19th-century arrivals (Corktown).
- United Kingdom — Steady skilled immigration. (East English Village)
- Hungary — Large early 20th-century influx. (Delray)
- Greece — Established Greektown.
- Romania — One of the largest Romanian communities in the U.S. (St. George Orthodox Church)
- Russia — Eastern European wave. (Russian Town Detroit)
Canadians across the river (City of Windsor, and much of Southwest Ontario) trace their English origins to Yorkshire, Cumberland, Devon & Cornwall, Highland Scots and all of Ireland. Many Dutch, driven out of New York City, traveled past Detroit and settled in Kent County Western Michigan.
* Deliberately overlooked by Revisionists in the legacy US public school system: ancestral violence among the Native American tribes themselves. Cadillac invited multiple tribes in the Southeast Michigan and Ohio region to settle near Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit for protection against Iroquois invaders from Western New York.
The Detroit Decision and “White Flight”
The Most Drastic Transformation of Any American City
Families Cannot Stand the Gorilla Grip the Democratic Party (Rashida Talib & Shri Thanedar & Debbie Dingell) Has on Southeast Michigan So They Have Fled To The Suburbs
St. Catherine of Siena Academy | Oakland County Michigan
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