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U-D Mercy’s
Secret Weapon

Steve Stein | Contributing Writer

P

eople caught up in the spotlight of
the 24-hour news cycle often call
upon the public relations skills of
Mort Meisner to help them out.
But the namesake of Huntington
Woods-based Mort Meisner Associates
isn’t just involved in front-page matters.
He also does behind-the-scenes work to
assist the sports pro-
gram of his alma mater
— the University of
Detroit Mercy — and
he has generated much
good will and revenue
for the school.
“My business part-
ner Wendy Fayne and
Mort Meisner
I do public relations to
shine a positive light
on the U-D Mercy
men’s basketball program,” Meisner said.
“I’ve been doing this for more than a
decade. Wendy has been involved the last
five years.”
Meisner, a 1975 U-D Mercy gradu-
ate, did radio play-by-play for the men’s
basketball team during some of the Dick
Vitale years.
“I still talk to him,” Meisner said.
There’s another tight connection to the
school for Meisner. His daughter Nicole
Meisner, 22, earned bachelor’s and mas-
ter’s degrees from U-D Mercy and is one
of the women’s track and field team’s all-
time best sprinters.
Meisner said he’s gone from counseling
and offering ideas to pump up the men’s
basketball program to bringing spon-
sors to the table and setting up relation-
ships with Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan’s
office, the United Auto Workers and Tim
Hortons restaurants.
He said he negotiated the Titans’ televi-
sion broadcast contract with WADL-TV
and radio broadcast contract with 97.1
“The Ticket.”
Meisner said he isn’t aware of any other
university that has an arrangement like
his firm does with U-D Mercy.
“Most schools use inside people for
what we do,” he said. “U-D Mercy has a
good group of inside people, but they rely
on Wendy and me to add a little extra.”
Meisner put together a fundraiser for
the U-D Mercy track and field program
several years ago at a Detroit Tigers game
at Comerica Park.
“We had a Titans Track Night,” he said.
“Supporters bought tickets to the game,

and we had a pregame party. We raised
more than $5,000.”
In addition, Meisner has done five
years’ worth of fundraisers in the Detroit
area for the Lewiston N.Y.-based Niagara
University baseball team and raised
nearly $30,000.
Mark Meisner, 23, Mort Meisner’s
son, finished a four-year career with the
Division I Purple Eagles in 2015 and is
pursuing a master’s degree at the school.

CAHN MAKES RACQUET
Western Michigan University men’s ten-
nis star Andrew Cahn won two singles
matches March 15 to help the Broncos
beat Aquinas College 6-1 and Grand
Valley State University 7-0. Both oppo-
nents of Kalamazoo-based WMU are
located in the Grand Rapids area.
Cahn beat his Aquinas foe 6-0, 6-3
at No. 6 singles and his Grand Valley
opponent 6-1, 6-4 at No. 5 singles. The
senior from West Bloomfield High School
came into the season with a 111-99 career
record at WMU including a 72-58 mark
in doubles.
A star in the collegiate classroom, Cahn
has a 3.66 grade-point average and he’s a
two-time Academic All-Mid-American
Conference honoree.
Cahn was named Michigan’s “Mr.
Tennis” for 2012 by the Michigan High
School Tennis Coaches Association

OFF THE AIR
Matt Dery was a victim of the chang-
ing program lineup at WMGC-FM
sports radio. Dery and Drew Sharp were
replaced March 18 from their show by ex-
Detroit Pistons player Lindsey Hunter and
station program director Dave Shore.
Dery and Sharp had been in the 2-6
p.m. time slot since October.

NO FOOLING
Here’s a final reminder.
The deadline is Friday, April 1, to
submit an application for the Michigan
Jewish Sports Foundation’s inaugural
Stars of Tomorrow scholarships for
Jewish high school seniors.
Five $1,000 scholarships will be
awarded. Go to michiganjewishsports.
org for an application, or contact foun-
dation executive director David Blatt at
(248) 592-9323 or dblatt@
michiganjewishsports.org.

*

Please send sports news to
stevestein502004@yahoo.com.

March 31 • 2016

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