Michigan State struggles with uncertain return to classes

LANSING (AP):

Michigan State University Professor Marco Díaz-Muñoz is still haunted by what he witnessed last Monday night, when a gunman entered his classroom in Berkey Hall, killing two of his students in what he describes as “12 minutes of terror”.

“Those images haunt me. The images of those two girls,” Díaz-Muñoz told The Associated Press.

Arielle Anderson and Alexandria Verner, both juniors, would die that night, February 13. The suspected gunman, Anthony McRae, would shoot six more students during the rampage in two campus buildings. Brian Fraser also would die. Five others would suffer critical gunshot wounds.

On Monday, Díaz-Muñoz and others are set to return to class. The university confirmed on Friday in an email to students and staff that campus operations would resume, even as officials have faced pressure to delay the return. There will be no classes for the rest of the semester in Berkey Hall, where two students died.

Díaz-Muñoz said the university offered to have another professor to teach through the end of the semester. While he has yet to make a final decision, his plan is to go back next week and teach.

“On one hand, I want to forget it all. But then on the other hand, I think I need to help my students pick up the pieces,” Díaz-Muñoz said. “I think I need to help my students build a sense of meaning.”

MORE TIME NEEDED

Some in the community, however, aren’t ready for the rapid return. The editorial board of The State News, the student newspaper, wrote on Thursday that they wouldn’t attend class next week, either in person or online. More time was needed to heal, the students wrote.

In the days following the shooting, students across campus were seen packing their belongings to leave East Lansing, with all activities shut down for 48 hours and no classes until at least Monday. A petition demanding hybrid or online options for students received over 20,000 signatures as of Saturday. Michigan State has about 50,000 students, including 19,000 who live on campus.

Díaz-Muñoz understands that some students won’t be ready to return, saying that some will still have “the fear of looking over their shoulder and looking out the window, at the doors”.

“There are some kids in my class that are graduating this semester. And they need this horrific nightmare to have a better ending than the way it ended on Monday,” Díaz-Muñoz said.

In an email sent out to faculty on Friday, the university said that all students will be given a credit/no-credit option this semester, which allows students to receive credit for all classes without it impacting their overall grade point average. The email, written by interim Provost Thomas Jeitschko, asked all teachers to “extend as much grace and flexibility as you are able with individual students, now and in the coming weeks”.

“We are encouraging empathy and patience and an atmosphere for all to recover at their own pace,” interim President Teresa Woodruff said Thursday.

Four wounded students remain in critical condition at Sparrow Hospital, a hospital spokesman confirmed on Saturday. One had been upgraded to stable condition on Thursday.