Ginsberg Center E-Newsletter
February 2009
Sowing Seeds
U-M student Molly McCullagh works on Semester in Detroit, urban farm
Molly McCullagh plants seeds in more ways than one.
Since graduating from the University of Michigan in 2007 with an environmental studies degree, she moved to Detroit to work with Earth Works Urban Farm, part of the Capuchin Soup Kitchen. But she also planted the seed for Semester in Detroit, a new academic program that will see students live, work, and study in Detroit for a semester beginning with the current winter semester.
Not long after arriving on campus, McCullagh was introduced to the Ginsberg Center by a sign at the Diag for Alternative Spring Break (ASB). "It changed my whole experience at U-M," she said. ASB introduced her to Detroit and began her love affair with the city.
And it launched her toward more service. She became a site leader for an alternative spring break trip focused on sustainable agriculture in Texas. Next, she planned a spring break trip to New Orleans, where students worked alongside homeowners clearing debris from their homes. It was heart-wrenching work, she said. "Things had migrated from one room to another: there was a bike in a tree in the front lawn." She returned the following year, rehabilitating a house.
In her senior year, McCullagh was in an urban studies class and became one of four students who decided they needed to do more: they planned, organized, lobbied, and pursued a new initiative, Semester in Detroit, which has started with about 15 undergraduates who have moved to Detroit to live, take courses, and intern at community organizations.
"Semester in Detroit hasn't been compromised from our initial vision," McCullagh said. "I'm really excited to see how it will turn out."