Audiences: current students, current parents of students, all employees and the Board of Trustees
Dear Spartans,
While we anticipate that Halloween weekend is an active time across our student body and neighboring community, multiple incidents over the past few days have drawn attention and concern from the MSU community and those of us who work to ensure the safety and security of students, faculty and staff.
Unfortunately, two shootings took place in the city of East Lansing last night. Although the incidents occurred off campus and did not involve anyone from our MSU community, they took place in areas where many MSU students live and spend time. We recognize that violence in our community can leave students, families, faculty and staff feeling frightened and uncertain about their safety. Campus police and university leaders are fully engaged on this matter and will continue to keep our community apprised of any new developments, including efforts to improve safety on our campus and the surrounding community.
We have also heard important questions from students and parents about emergency alerts: who sends them? What circumstances warrant an alert? How are people informed when an incident near campus may affect them? Those are reasonable questions, and we understand that uncertainty can add to the distress of an already difficult situation.
MSU Alert and the City of East Lansing and Ingham County alert systems are separate systems, with different purposes and decision-making processes. MSU’s Department of Police and Public Safety issues university timely warnings and emergency notifications based on the law, an evaluation of any risk to the safety of the university community, and activities that occur within our campus geography; the city and county provide community alerts through Smart911. Depending on the circumstances, information may be delivered through one or more systems.
The MSU Department of Police and Public Safety supported the East Lansing Police Department’s response to these shootings last night. We recognize that students and families may have expected an MSU alert and may have been uncertain about what was happening. At the time, because the incidents occurred off campus and no ongoing threat to the campus community had been identified, MSU DPPS did not send an emergency alert.
We are continuously reviewing how information is shared between MSU and East Lansing, including how alert decisions are made and communicated. We will continue working with our local public safety partners to clarify each organization’s role, identify any gaps in current protocols, and determine how to potentially improve access to timely, verified information.
Our thoughts are with everyone directly affected and with those who witnessed the incidents or are worried about friends and loved ones. From what we understand, there are several people still in the hospital with critical injuries, and we keep them in our thoughts and prayers.
We appreciate our MSU DPPS team and the East Lansing Police Department who navigated a difficult, active weekend of law enforcement concerns. They work tirelessly every day to keep our community safe.
Separately, reports have been made regarding alleged inappropriate behavior by members of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) chapter at MSU. At our request, the national organization has taken action and ordered the local chapter to cease and desist any and all chapter operations (including, but not limited to, social gatherings, recruitment, activities or member education) until further notice. At the same time, MSU has initiated its own processes to fully investigate and address alleged behavior. All students are held to the standards contained within the MSU Student Rights and Responsibilities, university rules and policies as well as local, state and federal laws. Instances of inappropriate behavior are investigated and people and/or organizations are held accountable if warranted.
Please take care of one another. For our students and employees, please remember that we have support programs at the university to help navigate situations like this. Both Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) and the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) are available should you need them.
Sincerely,
Kevin M. Guskiewicz, Ph.D.
President
Professor, Department of Kinesiology