Eastern Editor’s Note


EMU Pride I


WINTER 2016 Vol. 13, Issue 1


EDITOR Darcy Giff ord CONTRIBUTORS Quinn Alexander, Diann Bouri (BS15),


Jason Brooks, A.E. Campbell, Patricia Cartwright, Laura Lyjak Crawford, Penpa Dolma, F.J. Gaylor Photography, Lon Horwedel,


Community cheers on New York Mets, led by Terry Collins


t’s hard to know what Terry Collins (BS71) was thinking before Game One of the 2015 World Series between the New York Mets and the Kansas City Royals. Collins, the Mets’ manager, was making his fi rst World Series appearance. It was


Oct. 27, and more than 40,000 raucous fans were about to fi ll Kansas City’s Kauff man Stadium. Collins was likely thinking about lineup strategies or the state of starting pitcher Mat Harvey’s surgically-repaired right arm. Collins was most likely not thinking


about Ypsilanti and EMU, but that’s okay— because EMU was defi nitely thinking about him. He is one of ours. As a student-athlete in 1970, Collins


helped EMU win the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics baseball championship. He’s stayed connected to EMU ever since, despite a baseball career that took him from the minor leagues as a player to eventual managerial stops in Houston, Anaheim and now New York. Collins was back at EMU as recently as February 2015, when he was the guest speaker at a fund-raising event for the baseball team. His story is our story. T at’s why a group of faculty, staff , students and alumni


Terry Collins (BS71)


gathered on campus to make a video for him and wish him well. T e EMU baseball team also made a good luck video, complete with a loud and enthusiastic “Let’s Go Mets” chant. EMU alumni and friends tweeted about him. We posted historic pictures of Collins in his Eastern uniform. We wore blue and orange in a region that decidedly favors the Old English D. We were “all in” for the Mets. T e connection of an alma mater has this type of eff ect. We root for each other.


We support one another. We take pride in knowing that people who walked the halls before us are now enjoying great career and life success. When our alumni fall, we hurt along with them. When our alumni win, we win. Collins was not able reach his ultimate goal of winning a World Series title, as


Kansas City earned a 4-1 Series victory. To the EMU family, however, Collins was already a winner.


—Darcy Giff ord, editor Kansas City Star


Melissa Jasperse (BA13), Randy Mascharka (BBA85), Eva Menezes, Jeff Mortimer, Jeff Samoray, Hilary Simmet, University Archives,


Paul Vuocolo (BS02), Kaci Yoh (BS00) ABOUT EASTERN


Eastern (ISSN 2150-4679) is published three


times a year by the Division of Communications at Eastern Michigan University 1215 N. Huron River Drive Ypsilanti, MI 48197-2351 All rights reserved.


The views presented are not necessarily those of the editor or the offi cial policies of the University.


ADDRESS CHANGES


Alumni Relations Offi ce 234 McKenny Hall


Ypsilanti, MI 48197 734.487.0250


alumni.relations@emich.edu Send story ideas to: 15 Welch Hall


Ypsilanti, MI 48197 easternmagazine@emich.edu


Eastern Michigan University is committed to excellence in teaching, the extension of knowledge through basic and applied


research, and creative and artistic expression. Building on a proud tradition of national leadership in the preparation of teachers, we maximize educational opportunities and personal and professional growth for students from diverse backgrounds through an array of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programs. We provide a student-focused


learning environment that positively aff ects the lives of students and the community. We extend our commitment beyond the campus boundaries to the wider community through service initiatives and partnerships of mutual


interest addressing local, regional, national and international opportunities and challenges.


4 Eastern | WINTER 2016


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