Classes resume at Michigan State University after deadly shootings
Classes resumed Monday at Michigan State University, one week after three students were killed and five others injured in a mass shooting.
While operations at the school returned to normal nominally, many classes were conducted virtually or canceled outright as students and faculty attended a protest at the state Capitol in Lansing to call for gun reform legislation.
Interim Provost Thomas Jeitschko announced last week that students could choose to receive credit or no credit for their classes this semester without affecting their grade point average. Jeitschko asked faculty to “extend as much grace and flexibility as you are able with individual students, now and in the coming weeks.”
“No one thinks we are coming back to a normal week,” Jeitschko said at a news conference on Sunday. “One of the things that is important for us to recognize is that coming back together will help us. We know that everyone heals at their own pace and in their own manner.”
“Let the semester play out. Come back. Try to heal,” he said.
Classes at Berkey Hall and the Union, where the shootings occurred, have been moved to other locations on campus and those two buildings are closed for the remainder of the semester.
Freshman Brogan Kelley spent most of last week with family but returned to campus “to go back about my life.”
“For me, not going to class felt like I would have been letting the shooter win. I didn’t want this one tragedy to define the place I call home and the university that’s giving me my education,” Kelley told The Associated Press.
The shootings occurred last week during evening classes. While police searched for Anthony McRae, 43, students sheltered in place for several hours. McRae later died from a self-inflicted gunshot after police confronted him off campus.
The five wounded students remain hospitalized at Sparrow Hospital with two in critical condition, two in stable condition and one in “fair condition,” the university said Monday.
However, the attempted return to normalcy has been criticized. Last week, student newspaper The State News’ editorial board said more time was needed to heal and many would not return to classes either in person or online this week.
“We can’t physically sit in a classroom on Monday. It’s been less than a week since we lost three fellow Spartans in those classrooms. We aren’t ready,” the board wrote.
“But we also can’t log onto Zoom on Monday and meaningfully engage in our classwork. We’re processing trauma. We’re coming to terms with grief. We can’t be worried about a deadline or an exam.
“We need more time to process without a class to worry about. MSU must extend the pause given us so we can decide how we need to proceed to feel safe and secure.”
The university’s athletic teams returned to competition on Saturday with the men’s basketball team losing 84-72 to rival University of Michigan.
The university announced Sunday it would cover the funeral costs of Arielle Anderson, 19, Alexandria Verner, 20, and Brian Fraser, 20, as well as the hospital bills of the wounded students.