Michigan’s only HBCU is a part of a consortium of Historically Black Colleges and Universities launching “eHBCU” on Tuesday.

Pensole Lewis College joins Alabama State University, Delaware State University and the Southern University A&M College System in the effort.

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eHBCU offers students across the country the chance to earn degrees and certification online from accredited universities. eHBCU becomes the nation’s 108th HBCU. 

Dr. Violet Temple Lewis founded the Lewis College of Business in Indianapolis in 1928 to train Black secretaries. The branch opened in Detroit in 1938 would eventually become Michigan’s only HBCU. Lewis closed in 2015.

Accomplished footwear designer Dr. D’Wayne Edwards opened the Pensole Lewis College of Business and Design in 2015, continuing the legacy of the Lewis College of Business as an HBCU. Pensole Lewis offers degrees in footwear and apparel design and in color strategy, as well as design-related certificate programs.

For more information about Pensole Lewis, visit plcdetroit.com. 

Other headlines for Tuesday, June 24, 2025:

• BridgeDetroit and the Detroit Parks Coalition have invited mayoral candidates to a forum focused on parks and public spaces — and they want your questions! The forum will take place from 6-8 p.m. July 24, at Palmer Park. Questions must be submitted by June 30. 
• Detroit vendors are invited to a community outreach event with District 2 Councilwoman Angela Whitfield Calloway on Wednesday to learn how to secure contracts with the city. Businesses that offer security, janitorial, vehicle supply and other services are encouraged to attend the event, taking place from 2:30-4 p.m. at the Northwest Activities Center, 18100 Meyers Rd.
• There is still time to join the Detroit Public Library’s summer reading challenge, with a variety of online and in-person events and programming. Many branches are also offering a summer lunch program in partnership with Forgotten Harvest. Call your local library branch for lunch dates and times. 

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.

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Davis Aerospace High School returns to airport campus with expanded aviation training

Davis Aerospace Technical High School is returning to its original home at the Coleman A. Young International Airport—a move that will once again give students access to the runway and hands-on aviation training.

The school, which offers free aviation courses including drone certification and pilot licensing, was relocated in 2013 while the city was under state management. Since then, students have been unable to obtain federal certification in aviation mechanics due to lack of airport access.

Detroit Public Schools Community District Superintendent Nikolai Vitti says the move is meant to correct a decision made under emergency management.

“We’ve gone about reforming the school district,” Vitti says. “Sometimes everyone’s quick to get rid of everything and say nothing worked in the past, and this was the complete opposite of that. This was about bringing something back that absolutely made sense and should have never been taken away from the district and the city.”

The airport’s three-level terminal will be converted into the school’s new campus, which is scheduled to open in fall 2026. The relocation is expected to allow the high school to expand its enrollment to 200 students.

Principal Michelle Davis says this year, nine students passed their FAA drone certification course, and four passed the written portion of the private pilot’s license test. With the move, those students will be able to fly next year—something the school hasn’t been able to offer since 2013.

The relocation will cost nearly $15 million, with funding split between the school district and the state.

Detroit mayoral candidates clash over jobs, housing at debate

Affordable housing and job creation were at the forefront of a spirited Detroit mayoral debate held Monday night at Wayne State University. About half of the candidates running for the city’s top office took part in the event.

City Council President Mary Sheffield said Detroit must find ways to use downtown investment to lift up neighborhoods across the city.

Reverend Solomon Kinloch Jr. pledged to lead both his congregation and the city if elected mayor, while former Detroit Police Chief James Craig described himself as a “proven leader.”

But the most pointed moment of the evening came during closing remarks from former City Council President Saunteel Jenkins, who targeted each of her rivals with sharp criticism:

“More guns in schools… locking up our kids… Craig is your guy. If you want a part-time mayor who’s working two full-time jobs… Kinloch is ready. If you want a mayor who shows up on Instagram but doesn’t show up for meetings… follow Mary. Thank you.”

The crowd responded audibly before Craig replied:

“Gloves are off now!”

Kinloch pushed back in his final statement, saying:

“Detroit cannot build up by tearing others down.”

District 5 voters invited to meet City Council candidates at Eastern Market

BridgeDetroit is hosting a Meet the Candidates event this Wednesday at Eastern Market for residents of Detroit’s District 5. All seven candidates running to replace City Council President Mary Sheffield are expected to attend.

The event offers voters a chance to ask questions, hear directly from the candidates, and enjoy a meal—Greek food will be served.

District 5 residents are encouraged to bring their curiosity and their appetite. Attendees are asked to RSVP in advance.

Event Details
What: Meet the Candidates – Detroit City Council District 5
When: Wednesday, June 19, 2025
Where: Eastern Market
RSVP: Reserve your spot on Eventbrite

Detroit Public Library celebrates Juneteenth with family events across the city

The Detroit Public Library is celebrating Juneteenth all week long with family-friendly events at branches across the city.

At the Main Library on Woodward Avenue, the annual Juneteenth Celebration takes place Wednesday and will feature special guests from the Midwest Invitational Rodeo. Visitors can enjoy pony rides, a petting zoo, lawn games, arts and crafts, face painting, line dancing, and more. The event also marks the kickoff of the library’s Summer Reading Program.

Other highlights this week include:

• Movie night at the Campbell Branch
• A Juneteenth Jamboree at the Edison and Elmwood Park branches
• Storytimes, storytelling, and history programs for all ages throughout the city

To explore the full schedule of events, visit detroitlibrary.org.

In this episode of The Detroit Evening Report, we cover a celebration of African ancestors, a Detroit student facing deportation and more.

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Carnival of the Spirit returns for 25th year

Each June for the last 25 years, a ceremony has been held on Belle Isle to honor and celebrate African ancestors. The African Diaspora Ancestral Commemoration Institute of Detroit launched the Carnival of the Spirit in 2001 to “venerate” Africans lost in the Middle Passage during the slave trade.

Kefentse Chike is one of the organization’s founders. He says people from various backgrounds have found solace in the ceremony.

“When we started this, the idea was to be — I’ll use the word interfaith, for lack of a better word — but it was to be inclusive of all the various spiritual expressions of African people in the diaspora,” Chike said.

Attendees wear white and often bring items to commemorate loved ones lost. The ceremony starts at the Belle Isle Lighthouse with a procession to the river, and includes African drumming, dance and other offerings.

This year’s carnival will be at 7 a.m. on Saturday, June 21.

To celebrate the carnival’s 25th anniversary, there will also be a film screening and a spiritual healing ceremony as part of this year’s festivities. The film screening takes place on Friday, June 13 at the Shrine of the Black Madonna and features a documentary exploring African spiritual traditions as well as a panel discussion with practitioners from several African faiths. The spiritual healing ceremony, Akom, takes place on Saturday, June 21 at the Detroit Food Commons. For more information, visit ADACI Detroit on Facebook.

Detroit student faces deportation

A Detroit high school student is hoping to stay in the U.S. long enough to graduate before returning to his home country, Colombia. But 18-year-old Maykol Bogoya-Duarte now faces deportation.

Chalkbeat Detroit reports police stopped the undocumented immigrant as he was driving to Lake Erie Metropark to join his classmates for a field trip on May 20. He did not have a driver’s license and officers who couldn’t speak Spanish called Customs and Border Protection, who arrested him. His lawyer says Bogoya-Duarte was already planning to leave the country voluntarily after finishing his education.

U-M updates security

The University of Michigan says it’s cutting ties with a private security company that was accused of following pro-Palestinian activists on and off campus. The school says it found the actions of one employee to be “disturbing, unacceptable and unethical.” It did not elaborate.

Neighborhoods Day continues advocate’s legacy

ARISE Detroit’s Neighborhoods Day returns on August 2, 2025.

Longtime journalist and community advocate Luther Keith founded the event and the nonprofit to help change perceptions about city neighborhoods, and show people the good things they offer. Keith died in March, but his legacy endures.

The city-wide event includes volunteer service opportunities as well as music, car shows and other activities. For more information about Neighborhoods Day, visit arisedetroit.org.

—WDET’s Pat Batcheller contributed to this report.

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.

Experts say Medicaid cuts passed by the U.S. House could result in millions of people losing health care — including more than 700,000 people in Michigan. 

Michigan resident Janae Wouldfolk says the cuts would change her life. A union liaison for AFSCME Local 140 who has worked at the Detroit Medical Center for 27 years, Wouldfolk cares for her 74-year-old mother and 19-year-old disabled son, Shemar.

On today’s episode of the Detroit Evening Report, she spoke with WDET’s Sascha Raiyn about her concerns. 

Wouldfolk says she’s used the knowledge she’s gained as an advocate and caregiver to help coworkers who needed help with health care coverage for themselves or loved ones. She says she knows many families who will be deeply impacted by the Medicaid cuts.

“You know, it’s a lot. It’s a struggle and if they do cut it, it’ll be a disaster,” she said.

The House passed the Trump administration budget last month. The bill will move to the Senate for a vote this week.

Other headlines for Tuesday, June 3, 2025:

• The Department of Homeland Security has agreed to restore the visas of four international college students — two at Wayne State and two at the University of Michigan. The American Civil Liberties Union sued the government, which has stripped visas from thousands of students across the country this spring and threatened to deport them. A federal judge dismissed the case after the Trump administration agreed not to terminate their status based solely on cursory background checks.
• Tiff Massey’s “Baby Bling” will be added to the Detroit Institute of Arts’ permanent collection. DIA Director Salvador Salort-Pons broke the news on WDET’s The Metro on Monday. Baby Bling is one of the pieces featured in Massey’s year-long “7 Mile + Livernois” exhibit that closed at the museum in May. After the success of the exhibit, the museum says it plans to re-install its contemporary African American galleries in a more prominent location near Diego Rivera Court in October. 

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.

On this episode of Detroit Evening Report Weekends, we hear a local woman’s story of discovering and trying to address her mother’s hoarding.

Brenda McGadney says her work as a social worker focused on gerontology did not prepare her to identify her mother as a hoarder or to address it.

Hoarding disorder affects about 3% of the population. Older adults and people who experience depression and anxiety are more susceptible to the condition than others.

McGadney told WDET’s Sascha Raiyn that she turned to family, clergy and community professionals for help. They weren’t prepared to help either. Now, McGadney is working to increase awareness about the disorder and to advocate for a Hoarders Task Force in Wayne County.

Listen to the episode using the media player above.

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