MSU to resume classes Monday as students, faculty grieve following shooting

Feb. 20 (UPI) -- Michigan State University is set to resume classes Monday as its student body, faculty and staff continue to grieve for the three students killed by a gunman who opened fire on campus early last week and pray for the recovery of the five students he injured.

Though classes are resuming and along with it the work, officials are reassuring students that school will not be the same as it was in order for them to focus on healing from the trauma they sustained after the gunman, identified as 43-year-old Anthony McRae, opened fire on MSU's East Lansing campus the night of Feb. 13 before turning the weapon on himself.

"No one thinks that we are coming back to a normal week," Thomas Jeitschko, MSU interim provost, told reporters Sunday during a press conference. "In fact, this semester is not going to be normal."

Jeitschko acknowledged that while people heal at their own pace and in their own manner, officials have decided to continue with their plans to return to classes as interacting with familiar people in familiar settings is known to aid in the healing and grieving process.

With the support of teachers, class syllabuses will not be the same as they were at the start of the semester in recognition that "this semester is not what anyone could have ever imagined," he said, adding that expected learning outcomes will also be reassessed.

During the rest of the semester, and especially during the first week of resumed classes, students will not be expected to attempt to make up for the lost week of study, he said, and instructors have been given the flexibility to make these adjustments.

"We've asked them to extend grace, and sympathy and empathy to their students, and we also have to recognize that our faculty are profoundly affected by this," he said. "It is not easy for our faculty members either to just say, 'Well, let's just come back,' but for knowing that when you come back you are coming back into a community.

"It's a community that's been shattered and all of us have these feelings, all of us are grieving, all of us are standing by one another."

The shooting was reported to police at 8:18 p.m. Feb. 13 at MSU's social science Berkey Hall building, resulting in two people killed and several injured. A second shooting was then followed at the nearby MSU Union where the third slain victim was found.

Jeitschko said neither facility will be used for instruction for the remainder of the semester, and that the more than 300 that had been scheduled at those locations have been moved.

Funerals were held earlier Sunday for Brian Fraser and Alexandria Verner, with the funeral for the third shooting victim, Arielle Anderson, to be conducted in the next few days, officials said.

The five students injured in the shooting remained hospitalized Sunday night at Sparrow Health.

MSU Police and Public Safety said in a statement that three remain in critical condition, one in serious but stable condition and one was listed in fair condition.

MSU interim president Teresa Woodruff told reporters that the university was covering the costs of the funerals and the medical care of those injured.

A Spartan Strong fund created to provide support for those impacted by the shooting, including through counseling services for students and staff, has already raised more than $250,000 through some 2,000 donations, she said.

Ahead of the return classes, thousands also participated in Spartan Sunday, a volunteer event that was held throughout the MSU campus in a show of support for the community and in an effort to aid in the healing process.

"We all share in grief and lost and we know that we must replace the chaos of last Monday with the possibility for change in our world through compassion for all, collaboration and educational continuity," Woodruff said.

"We will grieve and we will mend and today we reclaim our campus and our lives on behalf of our Spartan community. Today, everyone is a Spartan."