Shirley Stancato

Shirley Stancato

Democratic Party

Wayne State University Board of Governors

Tenure

2019 - Present

Term ends

2028

Years in position

5

Predecessor

Kim Trent

Elections and appointments

Last elected

November 3, 2020

Appointed

December 12, 2019

Personal

Birthplace

Detroit, Mich.

Contact

Official website

Campaign website

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Shirley Stancato (Democratic Party) is an at-large member of the Wayne State University Board of Governors. She assumed office on December 12, 2019. Her current term ends on December 31, 2028.

Stancato (Democratic Party) ran for re-election for an at-large seat of the Wayne State University Board of Governors. She won in the general election on November 3, 2020.

Stancato completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Stancato was born in Detroit, Michigan. She earned a bachelor's degree and a master's degree from Wayne State University.

Elections

2020

See also: Michigan State Board of Regents election, 2020

General election

General election for Wayne State University Board of Governors (2 seats)

The following candidates ran in the general election for Wayne State University Board of Governors on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Terri Lynn Land (R)	24.4	2,368,966
✔		Shirley Stancato (D)	24.3	2,352,785
		Eva Garza Dewaelsche (D)	24.2	2,343,395
		Don Gates (R)	23.7	2,291,880
		Jon Elgas (L)	1.3	126,102
		Christine Schwartz (U.S. Taxpayers Party of Michigan)	1.1	106,274
	Submit photo	Susan Odgers (G)	1.0	99,953
	Submit photo	Lloyd Conway (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	386

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 9,689,741
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Diane Dunaskiss (R)

Democratic convention

Democratic convention for Wayne State University Board of Governors (2 seats)

Incumbent Shirley Stancato and Eva Garza Dewaelsche advanced from the Democratic convention for Wayne State University Board of Governors on August 29, 2020.

		Candidate
✔		Shirley Stancato (D)
✔		Eva Garza Dewaelsche (D)

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican convention

Republican convention for Wayne State University Board of Governors (2 seats)

Diane Dunaskiss and Don Gates advanced from the Republican convention for Wayne State University Board of Governors on August 29, 2020.

		Candidate
✔		Diane Dunaskiss (R)
✔		Don Gates (R)

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Green convention

Green convention for Wayne State University Board of Governors (2 seats)

Susan Odgers advanced from the Green convention for Wayne State University Board of Governors on June 20, 2020.

		Candidate
✔	Submit photo	Susan Odgers (G)

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Libertarian convention

Libertarian convention for Wayne State University Board of Governors (2 seats)

Jon Elgas advanced from the Libertarian convention for Wayne State University Board of Governors on July 18, 2020.

		Candidate
✔		Jon Elgas (L)

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

U.S. Taxpayers Party of Michigan convention

U.S. Taxpayers Party of Michigan convention for Wayne State University Board of Governors (2 seats)

Christine Schwartz advanced from the U.S. Taxpayers Party of Michigan convention for Wayne State University Board of Governors on July 25, 2020.

		Candidate
✔		Christine Schwartz (U.S. Taxpayers Party of Michigan)

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

To view Stancato's endorsements in the 2020 election, please click here.

Campaign themes

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Shirley Stancato completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Stancato's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am a veteran executive in both the private and non-profit sectors, a civic leader, an expert on race relations and a social justice advocate. For almost 20 years, I served as president and chief executive officer of New Detroit Inc., metropolitan Detroit's leadership coalition devoted solely to race relations. serving as an essential forum for discussion and advocacy for racial equity. Prior to joining New Detroit, I had a long career at what is now Chase Bank, where reached the officer level of Senior Vice President. I currently serve on various boards including Fifth Third Bank, Eastern Michigan, Teach for America Detroit and The Detroit Symphony Orchestra. I received both a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts from Wayne State University. In 2017, I received an honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Michigan. Among the recognitions I have received are the Champion of Justice Award from the Michigan Delegation of the Congressional Black Caucus, Woman of Achievement award by the Anti-Defamation League, Regional Power Broker by Crain's Detroit Business and Michiganian of the Year by The Detroit News.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• If elected, I will continue raising Wayne State's reputation as a leading research university that supports both the city of Detroit and the state of Michigan. My priorities include continuing to improve Wayne State's graduation rate; supporting Wayne State students, especially those who come from low- income homes; and helping to keep Wayne State affordable to students who otherwise might believe that higher education is financially out-of-reach.
• I am passionate about ensuring that Wayne State continues to be known for welcoming first-generation and lower-income students with open arms and providing needed resources to keep them enrolled. Wayne State's ability to make students feel like they belong on Day One is what makes the university emblematic of hope and opportunity.
• Finally, I will continue to support Wayne State's efforts to remain an affordable premier institution of higher learning. The current economic recession in Michigan, brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, will put additional strain on Wayne State's financial resources. I am committed to keeping Wayne State's tuition affordable. That commitment extends to helping the university, which has the lowest tuition rate of Michigan's three major research universities, remain Michigan's premier urban institution of higher learning

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

The legacy of Proposal A, which never lived up to its promise to close the funding gap, continues to result in a profoundly inequitable way to fund our schools. It certainly never ensures that our students with the greatest needs receive the most investment. School funding policy must consider needs-based issues, particularly since more than 50 percent of public school students in the U.S. are from low-income families. Education funding policy needs to be calibrated to address high poverty school districts and schools. Less funding means fewer teachers, professors and fewer school or university support staff. I have high expectations of our schools, our teachers and our students, but we cannot set higher expectations without also providing the resources to schools, educators and families that are necessary to reach those higher expectations. We must rewrite our school finance laws and commit more revenues to our schools and families so that all children have the opportunities they deserve.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

When choosing a role model, I look for someone who embodies the characteristics i value most: civility, integrity, consensus building, honesty, kindness, courage and perseverance. There are a host of former and current Wayne State board members who demonstrate some or all o these characteristics in their work and daily life. This proves to me that citizens consider these to be values they seek in their elected officials too. It would be difficult to choose just one when I admire so many.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

See also

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