May 9, 2019

Response to Make Your Date articles

Over a period of several months Wayne State University has answered numerous questions and provided an extensive amount of information about Make Your Date to the Detroit Free Press, including a detailed financial accounting of the program administered by the university. Despite clear evidence to the contrary, the paper continues to imply wrongdoing or something deceptive about the Make Your Date program. This is simply false. 

Here are the facts: 

  • All of the money that has been raised for Make Your Date has been raised legitimately, enriched none of the participants, and is used exclusively to help mothers and babies by connecting them to see a doctor or midwife, testing, treatment, counseling and other resources needed throughout pregnancy. 
  • Wayne State has always handled all of the financial transactions for Make Your Date, as it does for other programs. Any person or material that says otherwise is mistaken. And yes, there was a mistake on our website that was corrected. 
  • A nonprofit named Make Your Date was created, however it has never been utilized and remains dormant. 
  • Detroit has the highest preterm birth rate of any major city in the country and programs like the Make Your Date program are critical to addressing this problem. Its work will continue.

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