Deaths

Ode To Michigan State University, MSU Law, And A Grieving Spartan Nation

You can only hope these students can pick up the shattered remains and seek solace and refuge in each other’s arms, harbor hope, and not remain jaded by such senseless acts.

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MSU“I fooled the crowd when I made it sound like I was more than ready / Strike up the band, deprive my sleep / Cause there’s no love like apathy / The bell that tolls rings loud enough that it should have woke us up.” — The Format

First off, I don’t feel quite comfortable or equipped to write about last week’s shooting at Michigan State University. Nevertheless, I wanted to share the full transcript of Tom Izzo’s speech here as I haven’t seen it anywhere else online. I hope Spartan Nation can find solace in his speech and sentiment.

Here are a few other articles you can read this week that may help you cope with this recent tragedy:

Back on December 14, 2012, our MBA cohort walked down the center aisle of the Rockefeller Memorial Church for its graduation ceremony. What should’ve felt like a jubilant event was marred by the specter of what had happened earlier that morning, the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting.

We all looked around the historic church during the graduation procession as if we were walking targets. On this day, which happened to also be my birthday, 20 kids, between the ages of six and seven, were denied the chance to walk in their commencement or celebrate their next birthday. In addition to these 20 victims, six adult staff members would never see their families again. I’d argue the country hasn’t been the same since this fateful day.

If such bloodshed could happen at an elementary school — it could happen anywhere. Any place we once considered sacred — colleges, high schools, junior highs, churches — are no longer off limits to such nonsensical violence. Just last May, a shooter murdered 19 students and two teachers in a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas — leaving the small town with empty beds and broken families in its wake.

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We all come to our respective colleges from different walks of life and for many different reasons. Michigan State University tends to attract in-state kids, international students, those interested in its globally ranked programs — nuclear physics, supply chain/logistics, biological/agricultural engineering, veterinary medicine, and education — as well as fans who are passionate about MSU’s sports programs.

In the late ’90s and early ’00s, I was a Metro-Detroit kid who grew up on eight-and-half mile and fell in love with the Flintstones and their basketball coach Tom Izzo. In 2001, I had originally enrolled in MSU’s James Madison College, then graduated from the MSU Eli Broad College of Business. I lived in the dorms for three years (Case Hall, Wonders Hall, and Wilson Hall) and served as a resident assistant (RA). Like many others Spartans before me, I did the obligatory tour at Cedar Village my senior year.

When I returned to MSU for law school, I technically lived in Spartan Village, but spent most my waking hours in the law school library. It just so happened my cousin and his wife, both international students from Taiwan, attended MSU’s graduate programs concurrently, enrolled in the Computer Science and Engineering Program and MSU College of Law, respectively. Attending MSU became a family affair.

I ended up transferring law schools to be closer to my wife in Texas, but I returned to campus to host my father’s funeral at the Breslin Center in March 2014. The following month I named an eight-week-old yellow labrador retriever “Izza” after the best basketball coach in the country. And every year during March Madness, I’m reminded of all the Spartans who came out and supported our family during my father’s wake. Suffice it to say, like so many other Spartans, MSU is imprinted onto my family’s DNA.

Last Sunday, the Austin MSU board met to plan its next routine community and social events: the watch party for the rivalry game, “Give Green Day” (March 14, 2023), a golf outing fundraiser, a park clean up community event, a picnic social, etc. One day later, the Michigan State campus would never be the same.

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Last Monday, around 8:18 p.m. ET, news broke of an active shooter at Michigan State University. Like so many other Spartans around the country, I immediately began tuning into the live news updates. Like so many other journalists I also tuned into the police scanners and other public safety audio streams. For the next four hours, I listened as a shelter-in-place order was declared, chaos on campus ensued, and police continued their manhunt. Hundreds of texts between the Austin MSU board, old MSU classmates, and current MSU friends and family members flowed between our fingertips.

Over the next 236 minutes, reports of suspicious activities, gunshots, and potential suspect sightings rang in from Berkey Hall, MSU Union, IM East, Wonders Hall, MSU Law Library, the Banks of the Red Cedar, and various other locations of the two-by-two mile campus, along Grand River Avenue, and then eventually a bigger radius of the surrounding area — until the suspect was tracked down and died of a self-inflicted gunshot.

Hearing in real time that there was a wellness check conducted at the suspect’s address (the prior weekend), the suspect shooting himself upon police identification, and then classified as “DOA” was unnerving and surreal.

It turns out, like so many other mass shootings, the MSU victims and their families would not be delivered justice for this indiscriminate crime. Instead, they would be haunted by the infamous “Run, Fight, Hide” text messages memorialized on their phones. Many others from the Metro Detroit neighborhoods would be painfully reminded of the Oxford High School shooting, less than 15 months ago. Every year mass shootings hit closer and closer to home.

This week, Spartan Nation would lose three of its own: junior Arielle Diamond Anderson, who wanted to become a surgeon, junior Alexandria Verner, a popular athlete known for her kindness, and sophomore Brian Fraser, president of his fraternity. Four out of the other five that were shot remain in critical condition.

As an RA, you remember fun facts like MSU has the largest study abroad program and second largest dormitory and food services system in the country, outflanked only by our United States Armed Forces. You witness hundreds of students who were just in high school a few months prior get to experience a newfound freedom and undergo a transformation over the coming school year. You laugh when you need to teach many of them how to do laundry for the first time, fold clothes, cook simple meals, and carry out other routine, domestic activities. But most of all, you remember the innocence and the carefree attitudes of these college kin. And then you form lifelong bonds and connections with many of them.

Perhaps, this is why so many of us feel such a strong sense of pride and ties to our alma maters. Having attended an institution with such school spirit, you can’t help but be excited about others who will follow in your footsteps. You know the golden era they are about to embark upon and the growth in these formative years that is about to take root for the rest of their lives.

It felt like just the other day when we witnessed one of the greatest plays in our hallowed rivalry. And we still remember the pain of losing a beloved Spartan far too soon. Whenever one has graduated, be it four years ago or 40 years ago, they can still vividly recall their first time moving into the dorms, walking through campus on a warm October day, tailgating at the rivalry game, and enjoying the weekends with others who are all finding their way in this crazy world. They remember their graduating alongside their fellow college brethren, and their plans to take on the world together.

Before you know it, time will fly by, your puppy Izza will be nine, you’ll still be wearing green and white every chance you get, and glued to the television during every March Madness — reminded of your late father and the incredible support from Spartan Nation. You’ll hope to make the pilgrimage back to campus every now and then to see Zeke the Wonderdog, hear “it’s a beautiful day for football!” and the Spartan Marching Band play the best fight song in the country, sway to MSU Shadows, or catch just one more game live in the house that Tom Izzo built.

And then, on Monday, February 13, 2023, time will stop. The callouts on the dispatch scanners of so many familiar locations — Berkey Hall, Brody Complex, Hubbard, Shaw, and Wonders Halls, MSU Union, MSU Law Libary, and the Banks of the Red Cedar — will remind you of your old haunts, the carefree walks, the long-night talks, endless hours of studying and trivial debates, your coming of age, and all the little things you’ve gathered along the way. It’ll bring you all back to campus like it was just yesterday.

Your heart will break for those on campus on this deadly night. A sense of innocence will be stolen from so many students during this fatal evening. Their carefree attitudes will be corrupted by a menacing sense of danger. The phantasm of another random act of violence threatens to hang over campus like the sword of Damocles for the foreseeable future. Many will fear going back to school. Survivors like John Hao, a 20-year-old international student from China, will remain paralyzed from the chest down and may not be able to return.

You can only hope these students can pick up the shattered remains and seek solace and refuge in each other’s arms, harbor hope, and not remain jaded by such senseless acts. But that they can discover joy once again. You know they will, eventually. Because Spartans Will. They may not feel like this for some time, but they will all become Spartan Strong.

In the sagacious words of Coach Tom Izzo:

Steven was at one of the buildings about ten minutes after things happened. So sometimes we don’t understand because we haven’t been through it. That little moment brought me a little closer to understanding. But as well as our entire university community who was impacted by the horrific actions Monday night,

I’m representing our athletic department and I feel like Michigan State. My 40th year here. I don’t like the place, I don’t love the place. I live the place. To the families of those who were senselessly taken from us, words seem so hallow right now. To the individuals currently fighting for their lives in the hospital and their families, we’re praying for you. I know that my wife and I got a chance to go to the hospital, Governor Whitmer was there, the President was there, unbelievable people — there’s so many good people in the world: the doctors the nurses.

Although for me, I’m also a father of two Spartans of my own. I can’t begin to imagine what all of you are going through. I do know that as a campus community we can offer our support both to you and to each other. Look around, look next to you. Shake somebody’s hand, introduce yourself to somebody you don’t know. That’s who we are and that’s who we need to be at this time.

I’d like to offer a special thank you, as all have, to our first responders, who get paid little and get asked to put their life on the line each and every day as I’ve learned from my own assistant coach not that long ago. The coordinated response from law enforcement, from around the state, from the FBI to EMS, to the hospitals, was nothing short of remarkable. And to the students who listened to the shelter-in-place directive, your ability to follow protocol even in the face of fear was incredible. If you use that throughout your life, it will be helpful.

I won’t be long, but I did want to offer a few words that some of you would hopefully find helpful: Michigan State is my home. Everyone thinks I’m a Yooper, yes that’s where I came from, but virtually all of my adult life I’ve been a Spartan. I’ve seen some incredible highs, and yes, unfortunately there have been some devastating lows.

But as a Spartan, we always get through it together, we’re Spartan tough, Spartan Strong. If you need proof, look at us all standing here tonight. Each and every one of us. We’ve come for many different reasons – to heal, to grieve, to honor our victims. To stand up to fear, which you are going to have to do a lot in your life. Whatever you are feeling it’s all valid. Emotions are different for each and every person.

I cry in front of my team. I cry on national TV. Don’t be afraid to show your emotions. We all process trauma in a very different way. I’m just glad we are all here together tonight.

So let me close with a challenge: Let’s all do a better job taking care of one another. Through no fault of our own, but COVID has led us to all feel a little more separated from one another. It drives me crazy. We need each other. For 40 years, I’ve always believed that at Michigan State, we are at our own strongest when we are together. In athletics the best teams are always greater than the sum of their individual parts. The same is true for our community. Governor Whitmer, you should be proud that not only did our police, not only did are hospitals, but just the individuals in our community all banded together at this incredible university that I have given most of my life to, and I have a lot more to give in the future.

If any of you need help, please speak up. Be vulnerable. Don’t be afraid. It’s no secret that I do wear my emotions on my sleeve so I’m not afraid. Our hearts are heavy, our losses have been great. Our lives have been permanently changed. But with a shared commitment to help each other and a promise to remember those we have lost — we will learn to find joy once again.

I think everybody knows that something has to be done in our society. Gun violence is insane right now. We all have a platform, some are small, some are high. But we all have a platform. And I hope each and every one of you use your platform to help others so other families don’t have to go through what these families are going through now. I appreciate everybody being here and before you leave, I hope you meet the ten people around you and become closer. The world needs it, Michigan State needs it, the grieving time needs it, I need it.

Please consider donating to the Spartan Strong Fund. During tragic events, Spartans rally to ensure the MSU campus and community have the resources necessary to provide for those in need. As the MSU community comes together to assist one another, learn more about how you can financially support the university with numerous challenges surrounding the evolving crisis.

Renwei Chung is the DEI Columnist at Above the Law. He currently serves as a Board Advisor for The Diversity Movement (TDM) and host of the podcast Charge the Wave — focused on entrepreneurs, executives, and icons who are assiduously building companies, cultures, and communities. Always down for a good story via email renwei@footnote4.com or twitter @renweichung.

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