A Gift and a Challenge

Thomas E. Page describes himself as a regular guy—"Call me Tom," he says—but he's much more than that.

In his retirement, the former police officer has taken on the roles of ad hoc ambassador for the city of Detroit and promoter and devotee of bicycling in the city.

He is also a major booster of University of Detroit Mercy. He earned a bachelor's degree in Psychology in 1971 and a master's degree in Urban Studies in '76 from University of Detroit and he credits his education for his success.

"One of the things I learned here is that education is much more than knowledge of facts," Page says. "Things change so rapidly in society today that we have to look at things in a circular way, not a linear way, because one issue is affected by so many other things."

That kind of global thinking, he says, made him a good police officer, which he was in Detroit and Los Angeles, much of the time as a Drug Recognition Expert, helping create a standardized, effective approach to combat drugimpaired driving now used around the world.

e recently showed just how he feels about Detroit Mercy and its students with two significant planned gifts. "I've realized what's important to me," he says. "I'm secure; I don't need more stuff. But what I could do is t o create a legacy that gets carried on at this University, which I care deeply about."

One gift is designed to have an immediate impact on the current student experience. Each year for five years, Page has pledged to support a project designed to build an energized student body and campus. Last year, his gift paid for two bicycle repair stations on the McNichols campus; this year, the gift will be used to establish a bicycle loan program. Four bicycles, specially designed by Detroit Bikes in Detroit Mercy colors, will be available on campus for students to borrow. The details of this program are still a work in progress, but the bicycles will be ready to use this fall.

This year's gift also supports a dean-designated initiative in the College of Liberal Arts & Education as well as the women's soccer team.

In addition to Page's generous five-year planned gift commitment, he has also included the University in his estate planning, leaving a significant and transformational gift to enhance student life on the McNichols Campus.

"This gift is in support of the morality, the ethics, the very DNA of Detroit Mercy," Page says. "This place serves a very wonderful purpose for our community and our society, and we need to support that."

Page adds that there is yet another motive for the gifts: To provide inspiration.

"I still have many friends—many of them Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity brothers—I met at the University, and we're at the stage in our lives where it's time for some of them to give back to the school because of what it has meant to them," Page says. "I want them to say, 'If Tom Page can do this, I can do something.'"