Setting aside rivalries, college students across Michigan gather to honor MSU shooting victims

Thousands huddled Wednesday night at the steps of the Hatcher Graduate Library on the University of Michigan’s Diag, candles in hand, quiet.

Students laid flowers and candles on the Block M at the center of the Diag. And at the steps of the graduate library, a banner read “Wolverines for Spartans.”

Students said no one should go through what happened at Michigan State University on Monday night, where eight students were gunned down, three killed, and five critically injured.

Not at MSU, not at Oxford, not at Sandy Hook, not at Parkland, not at Uvalde — nowhere, students said.

“I'm not exactly sure what to say, but I do know one thing — the second that we normalize, that we think this is something normal for any of us to go through before we’re 21, it’s something that we cannot allow to happen — children’s hopes and dreams are gone,” said Karthik Pasupula, a member of UM’s Central Student Government.

“We may be rivals on the field, but we are united in our commitment to a better future.”

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As students huddled, they mourned together, began healing together and sought to take a stand against gun violence and the generational trauma it has brought to students across the country.

Mikah Rector-Brooks, addressing the crowd, recalled learning to use a desk as a shield from gunfire before learning to add 2 and 2.

For Vanessa Donovan, who survived the Oxford mass shooting in 2021, Wednesday was the second time she stood on the steps of Hatcher, reading the names of students shot and killed.

“I urge you to remember their names — Alexandria, Brian, and Arielle — for how they live, for how they loved, and for who they were. Not for how they were taken from us,” Donovan said.

“The word is a darker place without their beautiful souls. And now we must all find our strength to try and heal our humanity again, together.”

At the end of the vigil, students wrote messages of love and healing on the banner that read “Wolverines for Spartans,” followed by several minutes of silence.

Meanwhile, thousands more held a vigil an hour northwest in East Lansing on Wednesday, and colleges across the state joined in paying tribute to the victims, Arielle Anderson, 19, of Harper Woods; Brian Fraser, 20, of Grosse Pointe; and Alexandria Verner, 20, of Clawson.

Vigils were organized at Wayne State University, Western Michigan University, Central Michigan University, Saginaw Valley State University and Alma College.

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Beyond Michigan, institutions like Duke University were holding space to mourn the slain Michigan State University students, as well.

Yousra Zouani, student senate president at Wayne State University, said students want to mourn and honor Anderson, Fraser and Verner, and to recognize the trauma that mass shootings inflict on so many.

But they're also issuing calls to action, she said. Students are angry.

"It’s an endless loop of violence. We’re saying ‘thoughts and prayers’ and nothing is coming out of it," Zouani said.

"I don't think a lot of people understand the degree at which this has become a normal experience for students in America."

Zouani said she underwent active shooter drills many times at school while growing up in Plymouth.

"Why is this normal for me to experience?" Zouani asked.

Zouani helped organize an upcoming vigil at Wayne State University, scheduled for 5 p.m. Thursday at the flagpoles on Gullen Mall. Those who wish to attend are asked to wear green and white, the colors of Michigan State University.

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Students who held vigil at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo on Wednesday also issued a call to action.

Stepping to the podium inside the university's north ballroom, Cheng Kidd Sun, president of the Western Student Association, said "let's do something."

"If we look around at each other, today we show that if we stand together and if we unite together, we as a campus can move forward," Sun said.

Sun was among hundreds of WMU students, faculty and staff who gathered. Students expressed fear they could be the next victims of a mass shooting.

"These students are in the same position that I’m in," said Logan Miller, a junior. "They’re the same age as me, like that easily could’ve happened here. We could’ve been in the same situation."

"There was no reason for them to have to go through that. There’s no reason for us to have to go through that."

Battle Creek Enquirer reporter Greyson Steele contributed to this report.

Andrea Sahouri covers criminal justice for the Detroit Free Press. She can be contacted at 313-264-0442, asahouri@freepress.com or on Twitter @andreamsahouri.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan students set aside rivalries to honor MSU shooting victims