At approximately 8:18 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 13, the first phone call reporting an active shooter at Michigan State University (MSU) took place. The call came from Berkey Hall, and the shooting started on or near the East Lansing campus. A shelter-in-place was put on campus and the surrounding areas, as well as a run-hide-fight message. Sadly, three students lost their lives in this shooting, Arielle Anderson, Brian Fraser and Alexandria Verner, leaving five students remaining in the hospital. Out of respect to the victims and their families, the names of these five students have not been released.
One of the things people never realize about life-changing events is that they can come from seemingly ordinary days. You wake up, get your coffee, go to class, and then your life is changed forever at the flip of a switch. In fact, that’s what many of the survivors of the MSU shooting remember from that day. “That night, I left class at 7:15 and was going to walk back to my dorm but someone invited me to study at her place. When I saw that there was an active shooter on campus, I didn’t believe it. Until we got the email from the school. I was mortified and my friend was taking an exam. I interrupted her exam so we could go hide while listening to a police scanner,” says Kearsten Little, a student at MSU. “I texted my friend to tell her and she said multiple times we thought we were going to die or were close to the shooter because of inaccurate information on the scanner. That night I think everyone was up until at least two a.m.,” Little explains.
As a fellow member of a Her Campus chapter, I was able to reach out to some of their members, Kearsten Little and Alexis Zarend, who have given helpful insight on how to help their community.
Sometimes after an event, we tend to move on from the victims and the survivors who have to live with this event in their community. “MSU is offering counseling resources but the school doesn’t seem very sincere about taking the time that we need. It all just got so rushed with coming back and they want normality after spring break, and I don’t think a lot of my peers/professors are ready,” states Little. As a result of this devastating event, the surrounding community has banded together to support each other. According to Alexis Zarend, “The university, organizations and surrounding businesses have helped organize so many events to support students and have been offering free food and necessities all over campus. They have also been publicizing as many relaxing opportunities and mental health support programs as they can find. Everyone in HC has been so supportive, just checking in, sharing fun opportunities and support and organizing small unofficial events to hang out and be with other people.”
Supporting these businesses in this community might be something that feels insignificant, but in a time like this, it could go a long way.
Reaching out to these survivors is also something we can do to support them. Many of these students need someone to talk to, and a lot of times, peers can make them feel more comfortable. In this society, social media can be more helpful than we even realize. Having someone to talk to, even a stranger can help someone heal more than you will ever realize.
The most supportive thing that can be done is to donate to the victim’s GoFundMe, as well as attend events in support of MSU and the surrounding community. I have linked a few GoFundMe’s at the bottom of this article that is currently accepting donations. Another helpful way to support these survivors is to reach out and write letters to MSU’s Her Campus team. “They would love to hear everyone’s supportive words, especially at a time like this. Some ways that others can help is by donating to the GoFundMe set up for the victims and their families, the Spartan Strong donations on the spartan-strong website, or just reaching out to Spartans in your life and offering support. They could also support by attending protests, either in support of MSU specifically or for the larger cause of gun violence. I heard a few chapters actually write student’s letters; we’re waiting to read those soon!” says Zarend. Anything can be helpful to these victims and survivors during this devastating time.
Please consider taking the time out of your day to support your peers and their families during this time. Even if it is sometimes reaching out through social media or a small donation, your support will be appreciated.
GoFundMes to donate to:
https://givingto.msu.edu/spartan-strong.cfm
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-needed-for-a-beloved-global-spartan-john-h
https://www.gofundme.com/f/funds-for-the-family-of-nate-statly
https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-for-arielle-anderson
https://www.classy.org/campaign/brian-fraser-presidential-memorial-scholarship/c467940
https://www.gofundme.com/f/aimee-barajas-dispatcher-during-msu-shooting
https://www.gofundme.com/f/msu-critically-injured-students-and-families
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