EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State University held a press conference at 1 p.m. Sunday on resuming classes.
Their East Lansing campus will return to normal class schedules and sporting events on Monday, Feb. 20 as originally decided.
In the press conference, Interim President Teresa Woodruff said the Spartan Strong fund will be used to cover funeral expenses for the students killed, hospital bills for those injured and for adding mental health resources and security measures to campus.
Staff and faculty have been asked to extend grace and sympathy for students as they return to classes and begin to heal, Interim Provost Thomas Jeitschko said. Advisors are also available to work with students on what learning process might be best for them this semester.
Officials are also extending the credit/no credit option for students to use if they decide to.
Berkey Hall and the Michigan State Union, the two locations of the shootings, are no longer being used as classroom halls this semester. The over 300 classes that happen in those buildings were moved to other campus locations.
MSU Police also announced they're considering adding multiple security measures to campus, including security guards.
Three students died and five are hospitalized after a gunman opened fire inside on Monday, Feb. 13. Two students remain in critical condition, two are in serious but stable condition and one has been upgraded to fair condition.
The three victims have been identified by police as sophomore Brian Fraser from Grosse Pointe, 20-year-old Arielle Anderson, also from Grosse Pointe, and junior Alex Verner from Clawson. Funerals were held for two of the students on Saturday.
Police found the suspected shooter outside of campus in the Lansing area due to a tip. When police approached the suspect, he took his own life. He was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
Authorities said Tuesday the suspect was identified as Anthony McRae, 43. Police say McRae is not affiliated in any way with MSU.
Police said they have no idea why he came to campus to do what he did.
According to online Michigan Dept. of Corrections records, McRae previously pleaded guilty to a firearms charge dating back to 2019 in Ingham County.
The decision to return to normal scheduling on Monday has been met with mixed emotions.
A change.org petition aimed to make Michigan State University consider online learning options in light of Monday night’s mass shooting has received more than 22,000 signatures. The goal is set at 25,000.
On Thursday, staff members for the university’s independent student newspaper released an editorial entitled, “We’re not going to class Monday.”
The opinion piece said in part, “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. 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 they’ve given us so we can decide how we need to proceed to feel safe and secure.”
Marco Diaz-Munoz, the professor whose Berkey Hall classroom was targeted in the shooting, witnessed the gunman kill two of his students and injure five others. He says some students jumped through windows to escape, while others stayed to help the injured.
Diaz-Munoz says they became a family that night.
“I feel the need to go back and teach because I think those kids need me as I need them,” he said.
“I think we need to be reunited in that classroom. And, you know, slowly ease into learning again. But I think seeing each other will be part of a healing, great part of the healing.”
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