Michigan State University cancels classes on anniversary of shooting
- All classes will be canceled on Feb. 13, 2024, on the one-year anniversary of a mass shooting
- Some graduate and professional students may still have classes to meet graduation or accreditation requirements
- Berkey Hall will remain open to those with offices. The building will fully reopen in spring of 2024
Classes will be canceled for most students on Feb. 13, 2024, the one-year anniversary of a mass shooting on campus, Michigan State University announced on Tuesday.
In an email to the university community, interim President Teresa Woodruff discouraged instructors from scheduling exams or assignments on Feb. 13 and 14. Classes will resume on Feb. 14, and exams and assignments may be scheduled for Feb. 15. Some graduate and professional students may be exempt from this observance to meet certain requirements.
Campus will remain open on those days including dining halls and recreational activities. Public buses from Capital Area Transportation Authority will run as scheduled.
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MSU plans a remembrance ceremony on Feb. 13 to commemorate three students killed by a Lansing gunman: Arielle Diamond Anderson, 19, of Harper Woods, Brian Fraser, 20, of Grosse Pointe Park and Alexandria Verner, 20, of Clawson.
The gunman also wounded five others before killing himself.
The university has not released any further details on the memorial. Officials will make plans based on feedback from community members, especially those impacted by the shooting.
Although classes will be canceled, support staff are required to work, but Woodruff instructed supervisors to be flexible with time off requests for people who need to “step away from work on this day.”
The university will also develop a Public Art on Campus Committee that will include faculty, staff and students who will create a memorial on campus.
The university received over $2 million in donations after the shooting and will allocate $300,000 to building a memorial.
A memorial tree was planted in July, which honored all students who died during the 2022-23 academic year. The new memorial will be dedicated to the shooting.
MSU also announced that Berkey Hall, where two of the three students were killed, will remain open for academic and support staff, graduate students and faculty who have offices there, but accommodations will be made for those who don’t want to enter the building.
Berkey Hall will undergo renovations with plans to fully reopen by spring.
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