EAST LANSING, Mich. — Starting with a heavier police presence when classes resume Monday, Michigan State University officials have outlined plans for supporting the MSU community following a mass shooting that left three students dead and five others injured.
At the beginning of a news conference held by the university on Sunday, MSU interim President Teresa Woodruff said the Spartan Strong Fund, a university fund being used to support students who need to heal from the trauma of the shooting, has raised more than $250,000 in the last few days, noting that MSU will be covering the hospital bills for the five students in the hospital.
Counseling & Psychiatric Services at MSU, or CAPS, has also provided 318 clinical sessions to more than 200 students since Monday, said Alexis Travis, associate provost for University Health and Well-being. Employees of CAPS attended more than 20 outreach events in the last week, offering students services.
"As we continue our response we are focused on social support and helping people to enhance their resiliency and coping skills," Travis said. "People may experience a range of reactions, including post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, grief and anger, which may decrease over time for the majority. It is important that each of us continue to take care of ourselves and take care of one another."
These updates come as students have expressed mixed feelings about returning to campus. Thousands have signed a petition calling for hybrid or online class options for those who don't feel safe returning to classes so soon after the tragedy at the university of about 50,000 students.
"After the tragic mass shooting on Michigan State University’s campus ... students are ill at ease with returning to a campus that is not fully equipped to fulfill their safety concerns," the petition said. "Returning one week after a mass shooting has left many unsettled."
Other students say they don't want to go back to the era of the pandemic, when the COVID-19 virus shut down the college experience, and argue being together will help the MSU community to heal.
Classes were canceled late Feb. 13 for the rest of the week after police said a 43-year-old gunman killed three students — Brian Fraser of Grosse Pointe, Arielle Anderson of Harper Woods and Alexandria Verner of Clawson — and critically wounded five others before dying of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. One of the students in the hospital was updated to stable condition, officials announced at Thursday's news conference.
Students are scared, president of the Associated Students of MSU Jo Kovach said. Though students are supporting each other, students should reach out to professors for accommodations needed to balance healing and school.
"Students desperately need flexibility, empathy and options coming back to campus. Not every student is going to process or grieve the same and they deserve as many options as possible," Kovach said.
For parents and the broader community, the Hannah Community Center nearby campus is open from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. from Monday to Thursday providing counseling services this upcoming week, Travis said. More resources for MSU parents will be announced soon.
No classes will be meeting in Berkey Hall and the MSU Union, where the shootings took place and classes that normally meet in closed locations will be moved to other locations, Interim Provost Thomas Jeitschko said.
Jeitschko said the administration has received input from faculty and students on bringing the campus community together, knowing that some members of the community are nervous to return.
"Students must extend themselves some grace and empathy," Jeitschko said. "We hope that they come into the community, that they rely on each other, they rely on faculty and that they also rely on our staff, all of whom are members of this community."
He noted the university adopted an option for a credit/no credit grade reporting option for all undergraduate courses for the entire semester. Jeitschko also urged faculty to be flexible in adjusting course expectations, tests and assignments.
The MSU health care psychiatry clinic, meanwhile, will provide no-cost counseling this upcoming week for students, MSU employees and the community, Executive Vice President for Health Sciences Norm Beauchamp said.
MSU Police and Public Safety Interim Deputy Chief Chris Rozman added that campus security is considering many avenues to help students feel more safe and secure on campus, including access control doors. He noted that many doors on campus are already on timed locks and residence halls require multiple steps of verification.
"I do want to reiterate that MSU police and public safety and our local county, state and federal partners will be available now and in the future," Rozman said. "Our department is available anytime 24/7, and I encourage anybody in our community to contact us by calling 911 or our nonemergency numbers."
"If you need any type of police or law enforcement response, please do not hesitate if something is wrong, if something feels wrong. If something just doesn't feel safe, please call us."
