Michigan State plans memorial for shooting victims as part of $2M in donations
- MSU received more than $2 million in donations after a campus shooting in February
- The university will spend at least $300,000 of donations on a permanent memorial
- $1 million will go to support injured students and those who were nearby during the shootings
Michigan State University collected more than $2 million in donations following a Feb. 13 mass shooting, and will spend $300,000 of that to create a permanent memorial for victims.
The school announced the Spartan Strong Fund the day after a gunman killed three students and injured five others.
Since then, more than 4,200 people donated to the fund, MSU said in a news release.
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“We are forever grateful to the thousands of people who have generously helped put our community on a path to healing through the Spartan Strong Fund,” Interim President Teresa Woodruff said in a statement.
Here is how MSU will spend the money:
Support for surviving students: $1 million
The shootings at Berkey Hall and the MSU Union killed Arielle Diamond Anderson, 19, of Harper Woods, Brian Fraser, 20, of Grosse Pointe Park, Alexandria Verner, 20, of Clawson and
The gunman also shot and injured five students: Guadalupe Huapilla-Perez , Nate Statly, John Hao, Troy Forbush and one student who has not been publicly identified.
Dan Olsen, an MSU spokesperson, said support includes tuition and housing up to the cost of on-campus housing “when and if they continue their education at MSU.”
Additionally, the university will support about 50 students who were in one of two classrooms in Berkey Hall or the food court kitchen inside the MSU Union during the attacks.
Olsen said the university is still working on the details, but those students would receive grants to help cover the costs of attending school.
Some of the money will also support the families of three students who died “with needs that are unmet by state and federal crime victim compensation funds.”
Olsen said the university is paying for the hospital bills of the injured students and funeral costs of the deceased students through separate university funding.
Mental health services: $500,000
The university will pay or reimburse students, faculty, staff and first responders for their mental health care services.
Permanent memorial: At least $300,000
The school will create a permanent memorial on campus “planned through a meaningful, respectful and collaborative process.”
The university will also dedicate any of the Spartan Strong funds over the initial $2 million toward the memorial. The fund now has $2,092,198, according to Olsen.
He said no details are available yet about the memorial, as the first step is to allocate the funds before working to determine the scope of the project.
Healing and resiliency programs: $200,000
The Office for Resource and Support Coordination will coordinate these programs for students, faculty, staff and first responders.
The office was created in response to the shooting and is led by one person with a trauma background and another person with an emergency operations background.
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