With fall’s approach, students’ return to campus for another academic year brings renewed energy and excitement to our mid-Michigan community. It reminds me of the things that make our area so special, including neighbors who welcome Spartans, share our pride in this place and help make it feel like home.
We’re anticipating another strong student body of more than 50,000 this year, with the bustle and traffic typical at the start of the fall semester. And as always, we appreciate your patience. Most on-campus students will arrive from Aug. 25-27, as some 17,000 students move into university residence halls and apartments. Our first day for most classes is Aug. 31.
A campus that belongs to the community
One of the great things about living near Michigan State is having a world-class university as a shared community resource. I hope you feel free to visit campus often — whether to enjoy our gardens and outdoor spaces, attend a performance, explore an exhibition, cheer on our student-athletes or simply experience the beauty of one of the nation’s great college campuses.
Athletic contests bring our community together but can increase activity and traffic — football can draw more than 80,000 fans and 16,000 vehicles. To assist your fall planning, here’s this year’s home football schedule:
- Friday, Sept. 4 — Toledo, 8 p.m.
- Saturday, Sept. 12 — Eastern Michigan, 3:30 p.m.
- Saturday, Sept. 26 — Nebraska, TBA
- Saturday, Oct. 10 — Illinois, TBA (Homecoming)
- Saturday, Oct. 17 — Northwestern, TBA (Family Weekend)
- Saturday, Nov. 14 — Washington, TBA
- Friday, Nov. 20 — Oregon, 8 p.m.
Michigan State fields 21 intercollegiate sports teams, and you can keep up with all of them on our athletics webpages.
Our world-class arts and performance venues enrich the cultural life of our region, and I encourage you to take advantage of the many such opportunities so close to home.
The coming season at the Wharton Center for Performing Arts offers an exciting lineup of performances for people of all ages. Highlights include Broadway productions such as “Beetlejuice,” “The Notebook” and “SIX: The Musical,” along with performances featuring Sutton Foster, Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax. Our College of Music also offers a broad range of performances open to the public. The Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, meanwhile, continues to invite exploration and conversation through exhibitions that connect art with important questions about our world.
A safe and connected community
A thriving university community depends on a safe, welcoming environment for students, employees, visitors and neighbors alike. We take reports of off-campus behavior involving our students seriously and, when concerns arise, work closely with local officials and law enforcement to address issues, uphold community standards and ensure accountability consistent with university policies and processes.
Safety remains my highest priority. I am grateful for the strong relationships between Michigan State’s Department of Police and Public Safety and our local first responder agencies. Keeping our community safe is a shared responsibility, and I appreciate the important role our neighbors play.
Investing for the future
If you have visited campus recently, you have likely seen the signs of progress as we create the facilities needed for the next generation of learning and research. Construction can also create inconveniences when visiting campus. Please keep in mind that projects such as the continued transformation of student spaces, improvements to research and teaching facilities, and major utility and infrastructure work are investments in the future of Michigan State and the entire region.
I invite you to stay abreast of developments at MSU and my own messages to the Spartan community as the year rolls on. Thank you for welcoming our students, supporting our mission and partnering with us to make this region a thriving place where people want to live, learn, work and invest. I look forward to continuing to listen and seek new ways for Michigan State and our surrounding communities to work together.
Sincerely,
Kevin M. Guskiewicz, Ph.D.
(pronounced GUS-ka-wits)
President
John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor, Department of Kinesiology
Michigan State University