MSU shooting anniversary: Students prepare for vigil in honor of victims

MSU prepares for vigil in honor of mass shooting victims

"There’s no one way to feel. There’s no right way to heal," said Emily Hoyumpa, the student body president at MSU. "That’s something I’ve definitely realized."

The Breslin Center is usually a place for Michigan State University students to celebrate good times, but now it’s a place of healing.

MSU is holding a Luminary Lighting event on Tuesday to honor the three students who were killed in a mass shooting one year ago.

The shooter, Anthony McRae, killed Arielle Anderson, Brian Fraser, and Alex Verner on Feb. 13, 2022. The gunman also injured several other students.

"There’s no one way to feel. There’s no right way to heal," said Emily Hoyumpa, the student body president at MSU. "That’s something I’ve definitely realized."

MSU mass shooting victims Arielle Anderson, Brian Fraser and Alexandria Verner.

MSU mass shooting victims Arielle Anderson, 19, Brian Fraser, 20, and Alexandria Verner, 20.

Emily and her campus government colleagues put together an event where students and community members can get a luminary, decorate them, and place them outside to turn the dark nights green in honor of the victims.

"Some people want to be with others at this point, others want to be completely by themselves – and that’s completely OK," Hoyumpa said. "I think it’s just really important that we validate that."

Berkey Hall is already lit up in Spartan green as on Monday night; it’s where Alex and Arielle were killed and multiple others were hurt.

"There’s already a lot of emotions surrounding this week," Hoyumpa said. "To me, those luminaries coming together just shows the light and the power of the Spartan community – and that regardless of what’s happened to us, the power and the sense of community that we have here at Michigan State is not going to be dimmed by an act of tragic violence that should never have happened here in the first place."

Lot 62, north of Spartan Stadium, is where the main remembrance will be Tuesday night, starting at 8 p.m. Tents with warming units have been set up for the event.

Life on campus is much different now with more locks on doors, more security cameras, and university buildings being locked down after 6pm. But that’s not the only thing that’s changed.

"I think the biggest change though is within the students," one student said. "I think, unfortunately, a lot of us feel a little bit of fear now walking around campus. Everybody’s kind of always looking over their shoulder, so it’s an unfortunate change that we’ve all had to go through."