Michigan State community receives nation-wide support following tragedy on campus
East Lansing, Mich. – The Michigan State and East Lansing communities have received an outpouring of support following the tragedies that took place on campus Monday night.
Two fellow Big Ten programs showed their support when the Wisconsin men’s basketball team held a moment of silence before it played Michigan Tuesday night at the Kohl Center.
“Utterly heartbreaking to learn of yet another campus shooting, this time at @michiganstateu,” Jennifer Mnookin, the 30th Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin, said in a tweet Tuesday morning. “Colleagues, students and friends at MSU: You are so very much in our thoughts today.”
The University of Michigan plans to hold a vigil Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. It will take place on The Diag, located at 913 S. University Ave., Ann Arbor. Michigan State also plans to hold a vigil on Wednesday at The Rock, which is located between North Shaw Lane and Auditorium Road off Farm Lane. The vigil will begin at 6:00 p.m.
Santa Ono, the recently-appointed 15th president of the University of Michigan, ordered that all flags across the three U of M campuses be lowered to half-staff until further notice.
“Our hearts are broken with the Michigan State University family following last night’s horrific shooting,” Ono said in a statement. “We wish for a speedy recovery of the wounded, and we pray for comfort and grace for the loved ones of those so suddenly lost.”
The Rock on the university’s Ann Arbor campus was painted in support of the Michigan State community as well.
Some of the teams at the University of Michigan will also wear helmet decals in support of Michigan State.
Other Big Ten schools offered moments of silence before their Tuesday night basketball games. Rutgers held a moment of silence at Jersey Mike’s Arena before its game against Nebraska, and Penn State paused for a moment of silence before taking on Illinois at the Bryce Jordan Center.
“Illinois athletics mourns with our Michigan State family,” the university’s athletic department said in a statement released to Twitter Tuesday afternoon. “Our hearts are with the entire campus and all those impacted by the tragic events of last night. We are all Spartan Strong today.”
“The moment of silence earlier before the game for the Michigan State community and just everything that’s going on there, yesterday and here in the next couple of days for them, it’s something you think about and you worry about,” Micah Shrewsberry, Penn State’s head basketball coach, said after the game. “I’ve got young kids, and you see stuff that happens across the country, that’s one thing you worry about as a dad. So just thinking about them, everybody in that whole East Lansing community and what they’re going through.”
Ohio State President Kristina M. Johnson released a statement Tuesday morning as well.
“Ohio State joins our Big Ten community and so many others in grieving for the lives lost at Michigan State University Monday evening in a senseless act of violence,” Johnson said.
Similarly, Maryland President Darryll J. Pines released a statement Tuesday evening.
“We witnessed a tragic and senseless act of violence last night at one of our Big Ten family institutions,” Pines said. “We mourn the loss of three Michigan State University students and pray for the students still hospitalized. We are thinking of the entire Spartan community.”
Schools outside of the Big Ten also offered their support. Villanova University held a moment of silence before its men’s basketball team played Butler Tuesday night at the Finneran Pavilion.
Western Michigan University also held a moment of silence before its men’s basketball team faced Kent State at Read Fieldhouse Tuesday night. Western Michigan’s head coach, Dwayne Stephens, was an assistant coach for the Michigan State men’s basketball team for 19 years before being hired at Western Michigan in 2022. Before that, Stephens played at Michigan State from 1989-1993.
“I am deeply saddened by the tragic events which occurred on the campus of Michigan State University last night,” Stephens said in a statement released to Twitter Tuesday afternoon. “As a Spartan and member of the East Lansing community, my thoughts and prayers are with those affected. Anyone who is struggling during this difficult time, please do not hesitate to seek help.”
A vigil was also held on Western Michigan’s campus on Wednesday. It took place in the Bernhard Center North Ballroom at 11:00 a.m.
Another former Michigan State coach showed his support, too.
“East Lansing will always hold a special place in our family’s heart and we are saddened by this senseless tragedy,” Pat Narduzzi, head football coach at the University of Pittsburgh, said on Twitter Tuesday morning. “The Michigan State community is in our hearts, minds and prayers.”
Beginning in 2007, Narduzzi spent seven years as Michigan State football’s defensive coordinator under Mark Dantonio before being hired as Pitt’s head coach in 2015.
The Pitt men’s basketball team also held a moment of silence before its game against Boston College Tuesday night at the Petersen Events Center.
In a gesture outside of sports, the beginning and end of the bell recital played in Duke University’s chapel Tuesday afternoon featured the Michigan State alma mater and fight song.
Candles were arranged to spell out “MSU” in a memorial at the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes on the University of Notre Dame campus.
Several other Michigan-based sports teams and Michigan State-affiliated public figures expressed their condolences and support following the tragic events.
