A program initiated to improve relations between students and East Lansing residents will begin this fall after a one-year hiatus.
Colleen Lindsay, director of the Community Relations Coalition at MSU, said the program was designed to end the misconception that all students are property-damaging partygoers who don’t care East Lansing’s community.
“We want students to know that East Lansing is more than residence halls and students,” Lindsay said. “East Lansing has residents that are paramount to the community. There is a much broader community out there besides MSU.”
The Adopt-A-Floor program, a joint venture sponsored by the Community Relations Coalition and MSU’s Department of Residence Life, was formed in 1999. It paired eight floors in Shaw Hall with eight families in East Lansing. Each family was designated a floor, and the family and students involved performed various activities together throughout the school year.
Lindsay said former MSU student Hattie Tackebury came up with the idea in response to the MSU riots. In a collaborative effort, Tackebury, Lindsay, who was a mentor at Shaw Hall at the time, and former Shaw Hall director Angela Todaro founded the program.
About 10-15 students per floor participate in events, ranging from eating cafeteria dinner with their designated family to attending events in the community.
The second year of the program also was held in Shaw Hall. Lindsay said six of the eight pilot families returned for the second year. In total, nine families for nine floors participated in the program. Last year’s renovation of Shaw Hall postponed the third year of the program.
Art education senior Tina Hoeksema was a participant during the second year of the program, and said her adopted family created a family atmosphere, which let her to escape the rigors of college life.
“Our family came and brought us fresh baked cookies during finals,” Hoeksema said. “They provided a home away from home type feel.”
This year’s program will be held in Emmons and Armstrong halls in the Brody Complex. Six families will be participating along with seven floors - one of the families will be paired up with two floors.
Three requirements were implemented for this year’s program. Families must have dinner with their designated floor, participate in a community event and perform an act of community service - each requirement must be fulfilled once a semester.
East Lansing city manager Ted Staton participated in the first two years of the program, and is looking forward to meeting his adopted floor this year.
“My fondest moment in the program was feeding a legion of hungry girls in our humble home during Thanksgiving dinner,” Staton said. “It benefits everyone in the community to see how the other half lives.”
