One of the three original covers for the MSU Alumni Magazine before the issue was radically changed. Photo courtesy of The Go Teal Team.
Michigan State has released the original "teal issue" of the Spartan Alumni Magazine during It's On Us Week of Action and almost a year after former Interim President John Engler decided to scrap it completely.
In spring 2018, MSU was preparing a special issue of it's Alumni Magazine to be released in the summer. Three potential covers — each sporting teal, the color of sexual assault awareness, and the title "Finding Our Way" — went unpublished.
The original version that focused on ex-MSU doctor Larry Nassar's sexual abuse and the university-wide fallout from the cases was not distributed to alumni. Instead, the Alumni Magazine that was sent out in summer 2018 had a Spartan green cover with a quote from Engler praising the university.
"The university, which faced the most difficult challenge in its history, has emerged and is going to be stronger, safer and more competitive than ever before," the cover read.
The State News obtained and published the original teal magazine in August of 2018, and MSU published it this week as MSU participates in It's On Us Week of Action, a campus-wide initiative aimed to raise awareness of sexual assault.
"What a difference a year makes," MSU Alumni Magazine Editor Paula M. Davenport said in a university press release. "We believe it is never too late to do the right thing."
The cover published by MSU includes a single teal ribbon with a frayed end, the title reading, "Finding Our Way."
"Sexual assault and harassment allegations have rocked our community to its core and changed how we thought of ourselves as Spartans," the cover reads. "In our quest for answers, we will build a path to a better future."
Stories included in the issue are: "A Time to Listen and Learn," "The Long Fight to Be Heard," "It's Not Your Fault," "Being a Spartan Now," "The Power of Speaking Up" and more.
"Like the survivors, our campus and our society can never go back to the way things were," the magazine's "The Power of Speaking Up" section said. "But we can use this painful moment to find a better version of ourselves, to create new safeguards and to forge new attitudes to help fight abuse."
Acting President Satish Udpa, who replaced Engler following his January resignation, sent out a link to the issue in an email to the MSU community.
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