Michigan State University Will Not Hold Classes on Anniversary of Mass Shooting

EAST LANSING — Michigan State University will hold a day of remembrance on Feb. 13, 2024—the one year anniversary of the mass shooting on campus, which left five students injured, three dead, and countless others traumatized.

MSU interim President Teresa Woodruff announced the decision Tuesday, saying classes will be cancelled but the school will remain open to support the campus community.

“The university is planning a remembrance event for this day that will incorporate input and feedback from the Spartan community, including those who were most directly impacted,” Woodruff said in a statement. “While classes will not meet, the university will remain open on this day to support students and our community.”

All assignments and exams will be postponed between Feb. 13-15 as well.

Although support staff employees are required to report to work on Feb. 13, Woodruff asked supervisors to be flexible. “It is the university’s expectation that supervisors be flexible with approval of time off for those who need to step away from work on this day and that they extend grace and empathy to colleagues,” she said in the statement.

Woodruff also noted that Berkey Hall, one of the primary locations of the shooting, will be available to faculty and staff this fall—but no employees or students will be required to enter the building. Renovations will be made to the building and it will open again for classes in Spring 2024.

MSU is also continuing its work on a permanent memorial that had been announced in June. The school is establishing a group within MSU’s Public Art on Campus Committee that will gather input on the memorial through the fall semester. Woodruff said more information on the process would be announced in the coming months.