MSU Department of Police and Public Safety Chief Mike Yankowski spoke to the general assembly regarding a recent incident involving a threat toward campus made on social media by a student. His attendance at the meeting was in part a response to student concerns over the university's decision to not send out a campus-wide alert upon learning of the threat. 

He said the police received over 100 tips that day regarding the threat. 

"So as soon as we get this information, our job is to evaluate the threat, and we are required to determine whether it's a credible threat or not, and if it's an immediate emergency threat here on campus, there's some steps that we would take to notify our campus," Yankowski said.

He said this was not the first threat the campus has received and that communication to the community differs depending on the kind of threat reported.

"If it's an immediate, credible threat, emergency, immediate threat, we will utilize our alert notification system," Yankowski said. "If it is not an emergency alert and the threat is still ongoing, then we are required to send out a timely warning through the investigation. It was not determined that this was a credible immediate emergency threat."

These notifications are sent through all phones MSU Police have on record, emails and other means of communication. MSU Police can only use this alert system when they have a credible, immediate, emergency threat, he said. 

"It's really trying to balance making sure that we're not over-utilizing the system, but by law, we have to be very careful what we push out," Yankowski said. "But again, I want to stress that if there's ever an immediate emergency threat here on campus, you will get notified through that emergency alert, through your phone, through your email, you'll hear the sirens."

Later in the evening, College of Social Science Rep. Pavithra Elavarasan introduced bill 61-99, which advocates for ASMSU to hold MSU accountable and improve its communication on campus safety issues.

The university’s handling of this recent threat led to the creation of this bill, Elavarasan said. She said the university has made no official communication as an institution since this incident. 

"It is kind of disappointing and a little bit ridiculous to see that Michigan State University, as an institution, cannot send out an email or a message," Elavarasan said.

The bill passed with a voice majority.

Green New Deal

Bill 61-91, also introduced by Elavarasan, advocates for MSU to implement a Green New Deal for MSU.

The bill argues that the university continues to invest in fossil fuels and "abandoned" its Energy Transition Plan, which aimed to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 since the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The bill would advocate to reinstate this plan "with updated and enforceable goals to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030."

It also advocates for the university to move away from investments in fossil fuel industries and to be more transparent "regarding investments, funding allocations, and policy decisions that impact students in the East Lansing community."

Several members of the Sunrise Movement spoke during public comment in support of the bill.

Comparative cultures and politics junior James Ziadeh said he is disappointed with the university’s lack of accountability as a public institution.

"A truly public university is one in which the students' voices and needs are heard and tended to," Ziadeh said. "At the very least, a public university is responsible for making conscious and ethical investments with student dollars. This university knows the immense damage caused by the climate crisis, or at least it did when it had a plan to transition from fossil fuels."

He criticized what he described as MSU’s lack of transparency regarding why the university abandoned its energy transition plan and continues to invest in fossil fuels industries. 

"What we do know is that money that could have gone to upholding its promise to its students now goes to profiting from the very industries perpetuating the disasters MSU once stood up to," Ziadeh said. "At this stage in the climate crisis, MSU has a clear choice to make: ignore the needs of its student body and continue to profit off bad actors, or make itself a national leader in addressing this catastrophe."

Elavarasan, who introduced the bill, said it's important that MSU remain a sustainable campus and is held accountable when it's not.

The bill passed with a voice majority.