34 M A K I N G A D I F F E R E N C E
Faculty/Staff Giving
Jo Rumsey in front of the Taj Mahal during a
2009 Alumni Association tour of India.
different the place was from here, the better.”
Rumsey went on to engage in exploratory
global networking for the university, including
for the Office of the President. “I was just
thrilled to be responsible for exploring how
Michigan might engage with its alumni
abroad,” she said. She was part of President
Mary Sue Coleman’s delegations to China in
2005 and 2010 and to Brazil in 2012.
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the world
A staff member’s legacy will preserve a cherished family value
To say that she now values travel and
has seen a lot of the world would be an
understatement. “It’s what I like best about
living in the world,” Rumsey said.
Even with her family’s emphasis on seeing
America, though, Rumsey didn’t always have
the opportunity to travel beyond national
borders. As an undergraduate at U-M, she
would have liked to engage with the wider
world. But she was the oldest of 10 in a family
whose parents aspired to send all to college.
And they did—including five to U-M.
“We believe so strongly that having this
international experience as an undergraduate
can have a big influence,” Jo said. “We want
middle-class kids, kids like my sisters and
brothers and me, to have the ability to do it.”
When it was Rumsey’s turn, she borrowed
from her parents for tuition, room and
board, and books. She was expected to pay
it back after graduation, giving her younger
siblings the same chance. Along the way,
there wasn’t enough for “extras of any sort,”
Rumsey said.
She credits her U-M career with giving
her the tools and opportunity to feed her
passion for travel. Rumsey’s 40-year run,
which she describes as “extraordinarily
fulfilling,” included equal stints at the
Office of Student Affairs (now called
Student Life) and the Alumni Association,
where she staffed numerous faraway alumni
travel tours. “I raised my hand every chance
I got,” she said. “The further away and more
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PHOTO courtesy of jo rumsey
Traveling has been a lifelong
passion for Jo Rumsey (ABEd ’71,
TeachCert ’71, AM ’76), the retired vice
president for international relations at
U-M’s Alumni Association. While growing
up in Saginaw, Mich., she saw much of
the United States on family expeditions.
Rumsey’s parents were committed to
having their 10 children know firsthand the
tremendous size and diversity of American
cultures and landscapes.
Now, through a bequest intention,
Rumsey and her husband, retired attorney
Ralph S. Rumsey (BBA ’65, MBA ’66,
JD ’69), of Gregory, Mich., will be making
global engagement attainable for students
from families like hers: the ones that, while
they might not qualify for financial aid,
can’t afford the cost of international travel.
The couple has committed $250,000
to support U-M students’ international
experiences and $50,000 to support Ralph’s
fraternity, Zeta Psi International.