WSU President Talks Bikeride Fundraiser, Admissions Standards

Wayne State University president, M. Roy Wilson, talks with Detroit Today Host Stephen Henderson about the Baroudeur, a 100-mile bike ride/fundraiser, that will include five non-competitive rides ranging from 20 to 100 miles, all taking place within the city on Aug. 22, 2015. The idea is to raise money for Wayne State student scholarships.

Shifting gears a little (no pun intended), President Wilson also tells Stephen about the unique position of Wayne State as a high-level research school in an urban setting. He says that if the university were to do less research, it could actually receive more funding.  In his view, the state funding metrics are biased against universities like Wayne State that take students from a variety of socioeconomic levels.

President Wilson acknowledges that Wayne State has had a poor six-year graduation rate.  

“There were a certain number of students we were accepting who didn’t have a chance of graduating in six years,” he says.

WSU has since tweaked the admission standards, but Wilson says they’re still keeping the doors wider open than universities of a similar caliber.

Listen to the full conversation by clicking on the audio link above.