Instead of a frilly pink onesie, Teagan Clark wore green and white from the very beginning.

She only has missed five home football games since birth.

Her father, Don Clark Jr., marched in an all-boys MSU marching band before rules allowing women to participate in sports were implemented. He watched students build a tent city behind the International Center in protest of the Vietnam War.

And after growing up a Spartan, there wasn’t anywhere else to apply in Teagan Clark’s eyes.

Now, four years later, she’ll become the third generation of Spartan graduates in the Clark family Saturday when she flips her tassel.

She will leave campus with degrees in public relations and advertising — and as an alumna.

One of more than 1,700 graduates that will join an MSU alumni community of almost 500,000 this weekend, Teagan Clark said there won’t be a thing about the university she won’t miss.

“All the exams and the tests and the projects and the late night 7-Eleven runs, they’re all totally worth it,” she said.

“You leave campus, but you never leave it behind.”

The Clarks are just one of many families who matriculate through MSU, leaving a legacy throughout generations.

An essential education

When David Eddington received his acceptance letter welcoming him to campus as a Spartan in the 1950s, he was the 233,054th high school graduate offered a spot to live, learn and grow in East Lansing.

When his daughter, Jean Eddington-Shipman, arrived in 1977, her number was 654,690.

Today, as six of Eddington’s grandchildren greet campus like their grandfather did about 60 years before them, the numbers on their acceptance letters are seven digits.

For the Eddingtons, it never was if one would go to college, it was where, she said. And for the most part, that “where” was MSU.

“Both my mother and father had a parent who was forced to quit school,” Eddington-Shipman said.

“My grandfather … quit school in the eighth grade to support his extended family and my mother’s mother was forced to quit her sophomore year of high school to buy groceries for her immigrant family. She cried and cried because she loved school so much. Both of my grandparents passed on the value and passion for education.”

Eddington left MSU to engage in a 30-year education career, raising his children with his wife, Mary, in nearby farming community Leslie, Mich. Seven of their nine children attended MSU and six graduated with degrees in education, engineering, landscape architecture, English and business.

But from contributing to productions at Wharton Center to holding MSU home run baseball records, the Eddingtons never really left MSU.

Now they’re preparing for yet another green-and-white graduation this weekend, as Patrick Eddington-Shipman, Jean’s son, sets his sights on a diploma. She described the day her older daughter graduated as one of the happiest days of her life.

“It’s unbelievable to think of how hard they’ve worked,” Jean Eddington-Shipman said referring to her children, nieces and nephews.

“They’re graduating from a world-class university and if you’d gone to a smaller school you wouldn’t have had those experiences.”

MSU was, at first, an intimidating place for Danielle Winterberger, one of six Eddington grandchildren currently on campus.

Now, an international business junior, Winterberger laughs about her experience almost transferring to the University of Michigan.

“My big brother was (at U-M) and I was having a really hard time transitioning,” Winterberger said.

“But by the time I got back for second semester, I was absolutely staying. The feeling of being a Spartan is unparalleled.”

For theatre junior Casey Eddington-Shipman, having her cousins and brother on campus has meant having a 24-7 support system.

“It’s brought us closer together,” she said. “It’s really unique and comforting for us to know that there is someone for us always.”

And Winterberger is eager to carry on the tradition, alongside her cousins.

“We’re going to raise our children together and go to tailgates together,” she said, laughing.

“We’re going to be one of those crazy tailgates that win and get to be on the big screen at Spartan Stadium.”

More than anything, Sheila (Eddington) Moore, a second-generation Spartan in the Eddington family, said an MSU degree changes how you approach the world.

“For me, going to MSU opened up this big, wide world,” she said.

“Anytime you get a degree, it shapes the way you think about things, the things you promote and how you educate other people.”

Saying goodbye

Alyssa Sirlin’s parents had their first kiss alongside the Red Cedar River. Although neither of them attended MSU, Sirlin, a medical technology senior, grew up with cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents who were proud MSU alumni. Now, Sirlin herself is preparing for graduation.

“Hearing those stories reinforced my decision (to choose MSU),” she said.

“It wasn’t a difficult decision. It’s been an awesome experience and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

Sirlin’s family has had season tickets for basketball and football for the past 20 years of her life, meaning campus has been like a second home, she said.
“I grew up here,” Sirlin said. “It’s all I know.”

For alumnus Don Clark Jr., seeing his daughter Teagan graduate will bring back memories of walking across the stage at commencement and getting his own diploma.

“I don’t think there’s a better place to graduate from,” he said.

“To graduate into that family of Spartans that’s worldwide, you know you’re connected. There’s always somebody in the crowd and that’s pretty neat.”
Spartan pride is something that resonates from East Lansing to Chicago, across the country and internationally, he said.

“I’ve been to other stadiums and it’s nothing like MSU anywhere else,” he said. “Our band strikes up that alma mater and everybody sings and there’s nothing better than that feeling.”

For Teagan Clark, a mental bucket list helped tick down the last days on campus, something she urges other undergraduates to take up as well.

“Get involved, do things and go places,” she said. “Don’t do the same thing all the time. Do it and do as much as you can. Even if it’s dorky and silly, do anything and everything.”

After four and a half years of life in East Lansing, Sirlin will graduate Saturday. Leaving, however, is going to be harder than she ever thought.

“I’m nervous,” she said. “I’m nervous and excited, excited to start something new. I’m nervous because this has been my home for the past four and a half years. I’m really going to miss it.”