The gathering was initially planned as a silent march from the administration building to Beaumont Tower, where teal flowers would be laid in recognition of sexual assault survivors, according to an email from Reclaim MSU. 

Because of the weather, the flowers were instead laid beneath a poster at the front of the building, on which the names of survivors were written.

Several speakers addressed the crowd from the steps, including survivors Morgan McCaul and Louise Harder, as well as MSU faculty members and Reclaim MSU officials Anna Pegler-Gordon and Andaluna Borcila. 

Pegler-Gordon and Borcila called for “no more shadows” at MSU, and advocated for the opening of the presidential search and full cooperation with the attorney general’s investigation.

“It was really important to acknowledge this day,” Pegler-Gordon said. “I think (things) are better, and I hope that they will continue to get better.”

For Harder, it’s been an incredibly painful, awful year, she said. But, to see people come out a year later — after most of the national attention has left, gave her an indescribable mix of emotions.

“People are still fighting for change, and I think that’s so cool to see,” Harder said. “MSU failed me in so many different ways, and to see people demanding accountability, it’s really inspiring and heartwarming.”

Contrasting what she saw at the event with the crowd surrounding her at the sentencing, it almost felt like whiplash, McCaul said.

“It feels like it was a long time ago and it also feels like it was just yesterday,” McCaul said.

Trustee Dan Kelly was in attendance. Kelly said he spoke with some survivors earlier in the day, and he’s hopeful MSU is turning the corner, but the university still has a lot of work to do. 

“My hope is that we can regain their trust,” Kelly said. “I found out firsthand that we have a lot of work to do before we can do that.”

Kelly was invited to the event by McCaul, who said she was grateful he came. Kelly said he was honored to attend.

“I’m going to keep positive on this whole thing,” Kelly said. “I’m going to listen to friends like Morgan here who will keep me on the straight and narrow.”

McCaul said so much has happened since Nassar's sentencing. 

“It feels like we have all lived a thousand lives in the year that has passed," McCaul said. "But it’s really gratifying to be here and to see a community of supporters at MSU, which is something that I didn’t necessarily anticipate coming forward, and have just been overwhelmed with the support.”