Message to our Spartan community
February 16, 2023
A Message from the Dean (February 15, 2023, 3 p.m.)
Friends,
Although tired and worn down, we have much to offer.
We offer sorrow and solace for the three dead, the five injured, the numerous among us traumatized, and the host of possibilities savaged by lives ended and upended.
We remember and cherish the people we lost.
Alexandria Verner, 20, a junior from Clawson, Michigan,
Brian Fraser, 20, a sophomore from Grosse Pointe, Michigan
Arielle Diamond Anderson, 19, a junior from Harper Woods, Michigan
We offer profound gratitude for the people who keep us safe and led us during the gun murders on our campus. As you might have heard on the police scanners and as some of us witnessed at the MSU Emergency Operation Center on Monday night and into Tuesday morning, the police and first responders from the university and surrounding communities were brave and provided selfless service to all of us.
We offer service. Our faculty and partnering colleagues at Sparrow Hospital cared for the injured and their families. Monday night, the people in academic affairs contacted all the East Lansing first- and second-year students, and over the course of Tuesday, fellows, chiefs, and the community campus teams contacted the remainder of our first and second years and all of the Late Clinical Experience students. Our chairs, directors, and supervisors have attempted to reach out to each of our faculty and staff. The residents and faculty of the Department of Psychiatry helped care for students and community members at the Hannah Community Center and later in the dining halls on campus. Today, we have students meeting together, we had a Town Hall to listen to each other, and many of us will meet at 5 p.m. at Sparty to walk to the 6 p.m. vigil at the Rock.
We offer our response. Monday night was about safety, yesterday was about connecting to each other, today we gather. Tomorrow and onward, we bring change.
The forces advocating an odd and corrupted version of liberty espouse a soulless nihilism in which an unrestricted fetish for weapons vanquishes love of children, family members, neighbors, and those we serve. In the long arc of humanity, love will win.
Use your love and your words. Support advocacy and public intellectualism; let nihilists hear your fury as well as your science.
Serving the people with you,
Aron
Aron Sousa, MD FACP
Dean
A Message from the Dean (February 14, 2023, 7 p.m.)
Friends,
As we all struggle with the events of last night and early this morning, I appreciate the work people are doing to reach out to each other. I think every person in the college has had a leader or colleague reach out to them. It is not enough, but we start by being present for each other. There have been some gatherings in person and some over video, and I want to encourage those gatherings. Sometimes I think COVID has left us a little out of practice for how to support each other. I have a few brief updates and announcements:
- Following on the university’s plan, there will be no classes or clinical experiences for ECE and MCE students through this weekend. ECE and MCE students will resume classroom and clinical activities on Monday, February 20. The teams are working on specific adjustments and will be in touch.
- Our LCE students’ clinical rotations will begin again on Thursday morning, February 16. If students are struggling, or need more time away, Dr. DeMuth, Dr. Riley, and the clerkship directors are working on special procedures to make that possible for students this week.
- There will be a college town hall tomorrow, Wednesday, February 15 from 3:00 – 4:00 pm.
- The university is having a vigil at The Rock at 6:00 pm tomorrow, Wednesday, February 15. There will be mental health professionals there.
Take care of yourself and each other as you have been. You are doing good work.
Peace,
Aron
Message from the Dean (February 14, 2023, 8:03 a.m.)
Friends,
The pandemic of shootings and violence has come to us. As I write, the campus is secure and we know that three victims tragically, senselessly perished and five others are under the care of our colleagues at Sparrow Hospital. With the rest of the university, we have cancelled classes for two days. The university is providing counseling and psychological support in person at Hannah Community Center, 819 Abbot Road in East Lansing and via telehealth through CAPS and EAP programs. Clinical rotations are cancelled, too, so students are not required to go to clinic. We will follow the lead of the university and take two days to care for each other.
Our goal for today is to reach every person in the college. We will use community assistant deans and learning society fellows to reach students, although we have contacted nearly all East Lansing ECE and MCE students over the course of the night. We are asking chairs, division leads, directors, and supervisors to reach their faculty and staff today. On Wednesday, we will hold listening sessions through the day available to members of the college community. Because some people have been retraumatized by these events and may not want to come to our physical places, as we start these two days, we are focused on virtual gatherings and encourage people with needs to engage their own therapist and support system.
There are no words adequate to describe the tragedy, but I am confident that love and caring for each other will be our only path forward. I know you will lean on each other and will be there for each other.
Peace,
Aron
Students
If any student needs assistance, please contact Judy Brady at (517) 410-3535, Terry McGovern at (616) 430-1751, Robin DeMuth at (517) 896-8052, Jennifer Edwards-Johnson at (517) 420-3045, or Andrea Wendling at 231-675-2245. You may also call the administrator-on-call number at (517) 884-1838.
Faculty and Staff
If you don’t need to be on campus, please work from home for the next two days (February 14 and 15). If the campus is deemed safe, faculty/staff should come to campus only if there is a need (such as caring for students, patients or animals). Buildings will have only badge access for the next 48 hours.
See faculty and staff support services
Page last updated February 16, 12:00 p.m.