Wayne State University's global mission was furthered by the WSU Dance Company in the Maggie Allesee Department of Dance, which returned from the 2002 Concorso Internationale Dance Grand Prix Italia in Italy with three major awards. The company won1st place Modern Dance, 1st place Artistic Direction and 2nd place Choreography.

WSU's dance troupe staged two modern dances, "Road To Freedom" choreographed by company director, and assistant professor of dance, Linda Cleveland Simmons and "Spiritual Decree" choreographed by dance major, and undergraduate student, Edward Franklin. The overall quality of both dances brought the company its two 1st place awards, with the 1st place for modern dance award reflecting primarily on the performances of the 22 WSU dancers themselves and the 1st place for artistic direction award reflecting primarily on the work of company director Cleveland Simmons and the organizing efforts of the Maggie Allesee Department of Dance. The 2nd place for choreography award was earned entirely by Cleveland Simmons for having created "Road To Freedom."

The Concorso Internationale Dance Grand Prix Italia is a festival open to performing troupes throughout the world. Dance companies came from higher education, the private sector and even state-run, national backgrounds to perform and compete from June 22- 25 at the Alessandro Bonci Theatre in Cesena [pronunciation: shez-EH-nah], Italy-. The WSU Dance Company competed against groups such as the national dance company of Panama, the University of Nebraska, three universities in California, a private dance company from New York, groups from Australia and Guam and many companies from around Europe. Performances were judged in several style categories, including ballet, modern dance and jazz.