The decision on whether to hold classes on future anniversaries of the Feb. 13, 2023, campus mass shooting that killed three students and injured five will continue to be made on a yearly basis.
Most classes, except for a few graduate-level courses with stringent scheduling requirements, will not be held this Thursday, Feb. 13. Michigan State University also cancelled most classes for the one-year mark of the shooting.
Plans for each Feb. 13, including the decision on whether to hold classes, are made in the year leading up to the anniversary by a committee of students, faculty and other community members. Throughout the process, many on the committee also consulted the families of students injured or killed in the shooting, university spokesperson Amber McCann said.
"I think it would be premature to speculate about what plans may be even for 2026, 2027 and beyond," McCann said.
McCann added that MSU also consults with outside experts who help the university approach the anniversary in a "trauma-informed way" through advice and examples from other institutions.
The university will not hold a "remembrance event" or vigil on Thursday evening, unlike the first anniversary. Other events will return, however, including several outdoor spaces offering luminary kits and therapy dogs. Beaumont Tower will also be lit green and its bells will ring from 8:10 p.m. to 8:25 p.m., as they did last year.
The decision to not hold a vigil, McCann said, was made after receiving feedback from and working with student groups to determine what events the university would hold.
"It was just trying to honor and respect everybody’s sensitivity of the anniversary and the ability for everybody to take the time to recognize it in their own way," McCann said at a recent press conference.
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