Ellertson says Special Olympics should stay

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Keeping Special Olympics Michigan at CMU is a commitment that one senior officer says is “the right thing to do.”
And campus community members tend to agree.
The proposed CMU Master Plan, which was presented at the March 17 Board of Trustees meeting, recommended demolishing the Special Olympics Michigan building to provide greenspace and give the university a greater presence on Mission Street.
Relocating the organization elsewhere on campus has been suggested, but the future of the CMU/Special Olympics Michigan partnership is unclear. The plan is slated to be formally adopted by the board at its May 10 meeting.
Vice President of Business and Finance Kim Ellertson said he thinks Special Olympics Michigan is very valuable to CMU.
“There are two ways it’s valuable. One, it just brings a lot of attention to CMU and it’s a very positive thing,” said Ellertson, CMU’s chief financial officer.
Also, during the State Summer Games, participants utilize all of the university’s residence halls and dining commons, thus generating revenue, he said.
“Its a very, very good thing to do – it’s the right thing to do – and we’re very proud to be involved in it,” he said.
Lois Arnold, director of Special Olympics Michigan, said the value of the organization at CMU is far-reaching.
“First of all, we have a lot of interaction with the students, so a lot of students get really good community-service opportunities with our organization.
“I think that working with Special Olympics teaches a certain compassion to people and also exposes people to different disabilities, many volunteers get far more from working with the athletes than … the athletes do.”
Special Olympics Michigan works with a lot of faculty and staff and offers students opportunities for credit and internships, Arnold said.
Because CMU hosts the State Summer Games, “we get a tremendous amount of press,” she said.
“Athletes come from all over the state so it’s a pretty good public-relations value.”
Arnold said a number of CMU graduates have gone on to continue their involvement in Special Olympics in their own communities, like Special Olympics Vermont Executive Director Marty Derda.
Derda graduated from CMU in 1982 and has been involved with Special Olympics since he worked as a volunteer during his sophomore year at CMU.
“If Special Olympics was not on CMU’s campus, I probably would have never been exposed to that type of experience and when I say that I kind of mean that as a volunteer, and not only in career aspect.”
Derda said his experiences allowed him to meet staff, students and faculty, as well as providing an opportunity to enjoy being and working with the athletes.
“My whole career in Special Olympics goes back to when I was a student at CMU,” Derda said.
Special Olympics “promotes a spirit and enthusiasm that transcends all barriers that might exist on a college campus,” he said.
“It’s one of the few things in our society that really crosses so many different groups of people and brings them together for all the right reasons. It makes you feel good – why shouldn’t it stay at CMU?”
Bryan Burnstein, assistant area director for Area 7 and Farmington Hills sophomore, said the benefit to having Special Olympics Michigan on campus is twofold.
The organization benefits by having such a large volunteer population to draw from and to help generate ideas and volunteers gain a wonderful experience.
“I think having it on campus allows students in their busy lives and scheduled activities to take a step back and really see what’s important by working with this group. The types of things you can learn by working with the (Special Olympics athletes) you really can’t pick up in a classroom,” he said.
“It’s an opportunity for both groups to learn and grow.”
Jim Hornak, physical education and sport department chair, said the main benefit of having Special Olympics Michigan at Central is the opportunity that students, faculty and the Mount Pleasant community have to participate in volunteerism and service-learning.
“Beyond the volunteering and service, it really gives a built-in opportunity, because the (State) Summer Games have always been on campus, to see what people with developmental disabilities can do,” Hornak said.
“It shows the diversity of how much they can achieve. That’s what has always thrilled me – you can see how much confidence experiences like these build for athletes.”
In a June 23 CM LIFE article Mary Kay Shields, director of the CMU Charter School Development and Performance Institute, talked about her late sister, Caroline Marie Ruch, and the impact Special Olympics had on her life.
Ruch was born in 1958, during an era, which labeled people like her “mentally retarded,” Shields said.
Yet, Ruch was able to take part in Special Olympics events at CMU, giving her a small piece of heaven on earth and a chance to just be who she was.
“CMU is a caring campus within a caring community and that is demonstrated over and over again by the extra activities that CMU sponsors and the tremendous amount of work. But the impact that it has on people like my sister and my parents, you cannot measure,” Shields said.
“So many times their entire life people like Caroline, people are telling them through just society in itself, of things they cannot ever do or will never be able to do. Or if they can, it will require a hundred times more work.
“But then they come to a community like CMU that says, ‘Yes, you can, anything is possible if you try and we’re going to respect you for it.’”
After battling cancer, Ruch died Feb. 26, 1999. But Shields insists her sister’s story is not a sad one. Instead, it is a story of a little girl who became a happy, productive young woman because so many people cared.
“CMU was an integral part of my sister’s self esteem, her motivation and her happiness,” Shields said. “I think CMU needs to stop once in awhile and say, ‘Yes, we’re proud of being a caring campus.’”