Collections

The collection consists of material collected about President Mike Rao, including clippings, reports, updates, publications, and university-wide emails. This collection is not composed of his official presidential papers.

This collection is not composed of President Mike’s official presidential papers. Rather, it was culled mostly from newspapers, reports, updates, publications, and university-wide emails. Some correspondence and reports in the collection are courtesy of now retired Professor Wayne Osborn, who served on high level university committees with President Mike. The collection documents President Mike’s accomplishments, strategic vision, and public statements on topics such as diversity, the defeat of Proposal 2, and school massacres, rather than his thought process or implementation plans.

Mount Pleasant Area Diversity Group (Mich.) Organizational records, 1951-2009, and undated, include mostly meeting minutes, related reports, and historical documentation of the group's activities and events to fight racism and discrimination and foster multiculturalism.

The collection consists of paper organizational records of the MPADG, 1976-2014, and undated. It collection is organized alphabetically and chronologically. Important records include Articles of Incorporation, Mission Statement, By-laws, and Tax-Exempt Status papers. There is a complete set of Meeting Minutes with agendas and related materials, 1993-2011, and a few 2012 meeting minutes, as well as meeting minutes from 1992 of the local ministerial association. Other information documenting the group includes correspondence, activities and events materials, conference materials, the group’s history, marketing plan, newspaper clippings (copies), treasurer’s reports, grant requests, and meeting minutes of MPADG Trustees, and reports, 2009-2010.

Of particular interest to researchers will be documentation of incidents in Mount Pleasant and Michigan, 1996-2005, specifically the incidents at Mount Pleasant High School and the communication and plans of actions to address them and collected materials on how Michigan police dealt with juveniles and youth, 1991-2000, undated. Related to this are two folders of materials, agendas, meetings minutes, and a Mount Pleasant High School student survey of the Mount Pleasant Parents of Color, 1993-1997. Also related is the Mount Pleasant School District Strategy 7 Committee Meeting Minutes, Related Materials [multi-cultural education] folder, 2000-2001.

There are also two reports of interest: Isabella County Human Rights Committee Report to the Isabella County Board of Commissioners, July 21, 2009, and Overview of a Project to Explore Racial/Ethnic Diversity at CMU … presented to MPADG, by Mary S. Senter, Sept. 20, 2007.

MPADG also collected Michigan non-discrimination ordinances and information on how to file complaints, 1976-2010 (Scattered).

In 2000 Central Michigan University President Mike Rao asked for the MPADG’s list of efforts for a study on diversity related activities in the Mount Pleasant community. His letter and CMU’s plan are included in the collection.

Lastly, there is a compilation of information entitled Dr. Merze Tate: A Brief Review of a Groundbreaking Career, by Daniel L. Shaw, 2004.