A heart hung on the Beal Street bridge to commemorate the death of Grand Valley State University student Brendan Santo. Shot on Feb. 10, 2022
Beginning July 5, and lasting through late August, temporary fencing on the sidewalk and traffic lanes along the Red Cedar river near the Kellogg Center, Michigan Avenue and Beal Street entrances will be replaced with permanent fencing.
After the body of a missing Grand Valley State University student, Brendan Santo, was found on Jan. 21 in the Red Cedar River, a Change.org petition, titled "Make MSU's Red Cedar River Areas Safe," gained traction and garnered over 22,000 signatures.
MSU Infrastructure Planning and Facilities, or IPF, installed temporary fencing by the Red Cedar river along Beal Street and West Circle Drive following the petition, and the installation was completed on Feb. 7.
The temporary fencing is 2,200 linear feet and is located behind the Kellogg Center spanning to Beal Street and the intersection with West Circle Drive.
In addition, the petition called for Michigan State University to put up barriers, lighting and signage in place around the area in which Santo was suspected to have gone missing.
“This was part of our commitment that we made earlier this year, as we announced intentions of improving the safety around the Red Cedar River,” MSU spokesperson Dan Olsen said in a statement. “The safety of our campus community is and always will be the most important for our students, our community and those who visit campus. This new permanent fencing adds to the vast network of safety and security features we have on campus. We also launched the MSU Safe App, improved campus lighting throughout campus with more efficient but also brighter lumen LED light bulbs in many fixtures across campus, and the installation of the 300 cameras as well across campus.”
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