Berkey Hall reopens for classes nearly a year after campus shooting
EAST LANSING — Michigan State University reopened Berkey Hall on Monday, less than a year after two students were killed inside the building.
During the Feb. 13 mass shooting, another student was killed at the MSU Union, which reopened in April.
"I can totally understand how other people are super uncomfortable and that's not something to take lightly," said Kasey Albert, a social work senior leaving her class in Berkey. "But I think it's really important to understand that a lot of people have very hard feelings about being here.
"We can't let this define us."
On Monday, the first day of spring semester, students were greeted with muffins and hot chocolate at Berkey's front doors.
A therapy dog was waiting for students on the second floor, and signs were pointing to rooms for counseling for students and faculty, just as Interim Provost Thomas Jeitschko promised in December. Support staff will remain in the building for a few weeks.
"I think it's nice they have everything here for us, and obviously they've made it a bit nicer," said sophomore Evan Koleski. "I had a class that semester so it was weird being back, but I think it should be good."
Eddie Boucher, assistant professor for the center for integrative studies in social science, held his first class in the building Monday morning.
"Students seem to be well adjusted, and they're not having a problem being in Berkey," he said. "Everybody seemed calm and chill, but also there are therapy dogs and free donuts and counselors around."
The classrooms where two students died have been sealed up, and no classes are being held in that wing of the building.
"I think the biggest trigger for students is walking down that corridor," Boucher said.
He said that walking by that area still made him a little uncomfortable.
Boucher acknowledged the shooting before his Monday class began. He said he'd heard mixed messages from top administration at the university about how to approach the topic with students.
"I've got some anxiety about student anxiety," he said.
Josie Callendar, a freshman, said she was a little nervous about how the other students in her class would react to being in the building.
"I'm not super affected by it, but I am very conscious about it, like it is in the back of my mind... I know other people aren't ready," she said.
Students protested Berkey's reopening Monday afternoon at the Hannah Administration Building.
Cassidy Howard, a member of MSU's March For Our Lives chapter, planned the protest. She said in an email that her very first class of the spring semester was in Berkey, and that she felt supported by what the university has provided to students, like muffins and hot chocolate. But she said at the end of the day it is not enough.
"I teared up in class more than I care to admit and relied heavily on the support of friends," she wrote. "I have spoken to and heard from more students than I can count who are voicing their anxiety, who are voicing that they don't feel comfortable returning to Berkey yet."
Howard said that she would not be holding a protest if the students impacted had been able to decide to go into Berkey at their own pace. She hopes that "trustees can see students that do not feel heard, and maybe even hear the stories of several of them."
Contact Sarah Atwood at satwood@lsj.com, or follow her on X (formerly Twitter) @sarahmatwood
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: MSU reopens Berkey Hall amid concerns by students, faculty that it's too soon
