JUNE 24 • 2021 | 27

a strong impression, and my 
dream became to improve 
the quality of student-faculty 
relationships. At the University 
of Chicago, the faculty cared 
about me as a person and chal-
lenged my assumptions about 
building a meaningful life, 
inspiring me to dedicate my 
professional life to improving 
access to education.
”
To achieve his revised career 
goals, Drimmer earned a mas-
ter’s degree in business admin-
istration from the Wharton 
School at the University of 
Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. 
He went on to positions that 
included provost and executive 
vice president at the University 
of Phoenix, chief academic 
officer and senior vice president 
at the University of Maryland 
Global Campus in College Park 

and provost at the National 
Defense University in Chicago.
“When I decided to work in 
education about 20 years ago, 
I made a conscious decision 
to focus on helping students 
move into the labor market,
” 
Drimmer said. “I also made a 
conscious decision to focus on 
institutions, probably the vast 
majority of institutions in this 
country, that are not elite and 
highly selective. They are insti-
tutions that help people find a 
path. 
“One of the reasons I want-
ed to come to Cleary was that 
I really think they’re on the 
right path. They want to help 
people develop and position 
themselves to be successful in 
the job market, and they have 
some very sophisticated ways of 
doing that.
”

Drimmer, married to an 
attorney (Jacki) and the father 
of two university and two high 
school students, envisions an 
important part of his job as 
motivating current students to 
stay in college and motivating 
former students to complete 
their degree requirements.
“The first critical issue fac-
ing college students is to find 
flexibility,
” said Drimmer, who 
points out that half the students 
starting college do not finish 
and so he wants Cleary to offer 
adaptability for students in var-
ious age groups, whether work-
ing or not and whether com-
fortable with different kinds of 
technology or not. 

FLEXIBLE PROGRAM
“Cleary tries to maximize the 
classes students already have 

taken and the skills that they 
have. Students can go fast or 
slow. They can go online or 
face-to-face or a mix. They can 
get a degree or a certificate.
”
Addressing the rising costs 
of higher education, Drimmer 
will be looking into diverse 
ways Cleary students can get 
financial aid and allow credit 
for accomplishments at other 
schools and on-the-job experi-
ences. 
“
At Cleary, we really want to 
have an impact on students to 
deepen their experiences and 
help them reflect,” Drimmer 
said. “We want to help peo-
ple launch either into new 
careers or into milestones in 
their existing careers, but it’s 
not just about learning skills. 
It’s also about developing as a 
person.” 

E

ven as COVID-19 
infection numbers go 
down and vaccination 
numbers go up, Anne Marie 
Miruzzi and Susan Dumond 
keep responding to the vast 
frontline worker community 
with home-baked goods from 
their Southeast Michigan 
chapter of Cookies for 
Caregivers. 
Since Jan. 3, Inkster native 
Miruzzi and West Bloomfield 
native Dumond have helped 
deliver more than 11,000 
cookies across Michigan. 
The two women have 
teamed up with BBYO for 
a J-Serve Initiative under 
the direction of Ellery 

Rosenzweig of Repair the 
World. Because the BBYO 
teens didn’t have access to 
a kitchen, they put together 
treat bags filled with store-
bought snacks for Cookies for 
Caregivers. The teens includ-
ed handwritten thank-you 
notes to the essential workers 
in each treat bag. These bags 
were then donated to the 
stroke unit at Henry Ford 
Hospital in Detroit. 
Rosenzweig also led a 
group of religious school 
eighth-grade students at 
Temple Shir Shalom in 
assembling treat bags to give 
to Cookies for Caregivers: 
Southeast Michigan chapter, 

which then donated them to 
the West Bloomfield Police 
Department. 
Mental health therapists, 
funeral home workers and 
emergency services are a few 
of the many groups enjoying 
home-baked goods from the 
organization. 
If you search for Cookies 
for Caregivers on the web, 
you won’t see an official web-
site. 
“It works by word of mouth 
and Facebook,” Dumond said.
It’s quite simple to get 

involved. “Bakers do this 
out of the goodness of their 
heart,” Dumond said. “The 
bakers pay for it all them-
selves.” 
To join the effort, visit the 
Southeast Michigan Cookies 
for Caregivers Facebook page. 
For anyone interested in bak-
ing, a minimum of two dozen 
cookies is suggested. For 
non-bakers who still want to 
get involved, the group wel-
comes delivery drivers and 
people to make cold calls to 
essential businesses. 

FACEBOOK

Jewish teens help provide treats 
for frontline workers.

‘Cookies for 
Caregivers’

BRIAN GOLDSMITH JN INTERN

West 
Bloomfield 
Police 
received 
treats made 
by teens at 
Temple Shir 
Shalom.

