Community leader and real estate developer/manager Peter Cummings will be the keynote speaker for an April 12-13 forum at Wayne State University's McGregor Memorial Conference Center to discuss the university's urban programs.

Cummings, co-chair for the Detroit Festival of the Arts and chairman of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, will speak at a 12:15 p.m. Monday, April 12,luncheon program. He will discuss the importance of community involvement.

A principal of Peter D. Cummings & Associates of Detroit and Stuart, Fla., Cummings was instrumental in development of Orchestra Place in Detroit. He serves on the board of directors for the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit and for Comerica Bank.

The forum, titled "The Urban Agenda," will provide an opportunity to examine the university's involvement with the metropolitan Detroit community and to obtain input to be used in redefining WSU's urban vision and suggesting innovative approaches to advance its urban mission. Community leaders and WSU faculty, students and staff are invited to participate in the two-day event.

Co-sponsored by the university's College of Urban, Labor and Metropolitan Affairs (CULMA) and the Office of the Provost, the discussions are a response to the vision statement made by WSU President Irvin D. Reid in his inaugural address. He cited the strength of the urban experience as one of three "pillars" on which his vision for the university stands. (The others are a global presence and implementation of new technologies.)

The agenda for the gathering includes a panel discussion, breakout sessions and a town meeting. The opening session gets under way at 11 a.m. Monday, April 12.

A panel discussion set for 1:45 p.m. that day will focus on how four ethnic groups in metropolitan Detroit maintain their cultural heritage and interact with the university.

Panel members will include Ismael Ahmed, executive director of the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services; Osvaldo Rivera, professor and director of multicultural affairs at Madonna University; Jeannie Weiner, past president of the Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Detroit; and Geneva Williams, founder and editor of Black Parenting magazine. Kurt Metzger, director of the Michigan Metropolitan Information Center at WSU, will open the session with a demographic overview of minority communities in the Detroit area.

April 13 activities begin with a continental breakfast at 8:45 a.m., followed by breakout sessions at 9 a.m. on student outcomes of urban education, urban curriculum, community service and research. Some conclusions of the various discussion sessions will be summarized at a town meeting from 10:30-noon.

There is no charge to attend the forum sessions or the luncheon, but reservations are suggested for the sessions and are required for the April 12luncheon program. For more information and a registration form, or to make reservations, call the CULMA office at (313) 577-5071.