100-year-old alumnus pays it forward with endowed scholarship

With only five dollars in his pocket, 12-year-old Don Yick Chin '52 left his grandmother in rural China and traveled alone to America during World War II. He boarded the Empress of Japan in Hong Kong and endured a long and often frightening voyage across the Pacific. After continuing by train across Canada and then on to Boston, he was reunited with his parents in New York City and began building a new life in an unfamiliar country.

Armed with determination and a Chinese-English dictionary, Chin saw education as his path to a better future. With the support and generosity of others, that path eventually led him to UDM.

At 100, Chin is making sure future University of Detroit Mercy students have similar opportunities through an endowed scholarship.

After arriving in New York City, Chin entered the public school system and was placed in sixth grade. His inability to speak English made it almost impossible for him to keep up. So he was reassigned to second grade.

"I couldn't even fit in the desk chair," Chin recalls. "It took time to be promoted to the fourth grade."

He credits his progress through school to dedicated teachers who spent extra time helping him learn English and adapt to a new culture.

"There was much to adjust to, but I eventually finished," he said.

At Stuyvesant High School, an elite public high school in Manhattan, Chin continued to push himself. He worked hard to meet graduation requirements, including studying French, even though he was still mastering English.

He persevered and graduated.

Chin aspired to study engineering in college, but faced limited options-following World War II, returning veterans received priority for college seats, and admission to local colleges required being at the top of one's graduating class-something difficult for someone still learning the English language.

Additionally, many of the colleges in New York available to him did not offer engineering programs.

He searched for alternatives.

A small group of people stepped in to help him. Chin connected with a woman who had immigrated from Ottawa, who helped many young people go to college. With her direction and the support of a Catholic priest and nuns from a Chinatown parish, University of Detroit was identified as a potential option.

They wrote letters of recommendation on his behalf, and soon he received a telegram inviting him to attend University of Detroit.

With about $35 saved, he borrowed money and bought a train ticket to Detroit.

"My parents didn't understand why I was going away to school, and they didn't even say goodbye to me," Chin recalls. "I just packed up and left with the money I had saved from working at Chinese restaurants in New York."

With limited resources and his now well-worn dictionary, Chin arrived at the McNichols Campus determined to succeed.

"Going to Detroit was a chance for me to learn to be an engineer, so I could go out and have a better life for myself," he said.

At UDM, Chin lived and worked among the Jesuit community in Lansing-Reilly Hall. In exchange for room and board and to help cover his tuition, he waited tables and performed daily tasks for the Jesuits, while balancing the demands of a rigorous mechanical engineering program.

Chin described the Jesuits as "highly respected educators who advised the Pope and the Vatican." He suspected they were "the best in the Catholic Church."

Not only were they respected, but they were also resourceful, a trait they instilled in him.

He recalled one priest who, unable to find a food he liked, decided to grow it himself.

"Turnips, I think," Chin said. "He planted them in the garden, and I helped him care for them. No one else ate them except him."

Chin applied this resourcefulness to his studies.

During his third year, he took part in UDM's co-op program-one of the oldest in the country-which meant working off campus at an engineering firm. To get back and forth, he bought an old car and taught himself to drive.

But while he was learning to drive, he had a small mistake.

"One day, instead of stepping on the brake, I pumped the gas and bumped into a parked car," he said. "The owner was ready to call the police, but I pleaded with her to let me fix the damage myself."

He promised he would, and he kept his word.

Chin's time as a student was not without challenges, but he did not hit the brakes when faced with obstacles. His quiet determination, hard work and resourcefulness paved the way to his goal.

And along the way, Chin found encouragement, sometimes in surprising places, from the woman who trusted him to fix her car, to the priest who listened and gave guidance, to the professors who pushed him to excel in complex subjects like thermodynamics.

This solid foundation led to a successful engineering career encompassing aerospace, manufacturing and medical technologies. Chin worked on defense and aviation innovations and with firms like Bell Aircraft.

A first-generation college student, Chin felt his story could open doors for others.

"Going to school meant I was leading the way," he said. "I could show others it was possible to go to college and get a good job if you worked hard.

Inspired by his example, Chin's younger siblings and children followed his path and pursued higher education.

That same spirit of possibility inspired his gift to UDM.

"I have the money, and I want to do something for others," he said.

Chin's scholarship eases the financial burden on UDM students and their families, allowing recipients to focus on their education and dreams.

"The scholarship also means their parents will worry a little less about them," he said. "Don't forget that I'm 100 years old! I may not see students finish college, but it's still important to help someone who deserves it."

Just as others once opened doors for him, Chin now does the same for future generations.

Scholarship recipients at UDM often write to their donors, something that resonated with Chin. When his scholarship recipient shared how hard she was working and what she hoped to achieve, he was deeply moved.

And when he learned she shared his late wife Mimi's name, Chin said, "It felt like a sign." This affirmed his belief that every student's story is important and worthy of support.

"I felt like I was sending my wife back to school again," he said.

Through his generosity, Chin ensures future Titans can write their own stories of resilience, resourcefulness and opportunity.

"Everybody wants to pass something on to the next generation," he said. "Everybody's story deserves to be counted."