EAST LANSING, Mich. — A group of Michigan State University students on Wednesday staged a mid-day walkout in an effort not to let the victims of gun violence, both close and far from their homes, be forgotten.
More than 35 individuals gathered outside Berkey Hall during their daily work and class schedules to march to the Sparty Statue at the heart of campus nearly two months after a Lansing man began his shooting rampage that killed three students and critically injured five others.
The crowd was mostly students who chanted the names of Arielle Anderson, 19, and Alexandria Verner, 20, who were fatally shot at Berkey Hall, in addition to that of Brian Fraser, 20, who was shot in the student Union. They also chanted the names of other mass shooting victims, including students at Oxford High School and Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
"A majority of our population is affected by gun violence in some way, ... and we wanted to bring light to that and we want to ensure that we don't forget what happened," said Dhriti Marri, a 19-year-old sophomore in international relations who helped organize the walkout with MSU Students Demand Action. "No matter how many years go by, we want to make sure we remember these people."
After the MSU shooting the university started the Spartan Strong fund to provide support for individuals most critically impacted. Marri said she hopes the money goes to the victims' families, shooting survivors as well as gun violence prevention efforts.
This walkout was the first time 21-year-old Belle Hoke had attended a gun safety advocacy event in-person since the shooting.
"I was out of town for a lot of the previous events, like the vigil, because I just was not in a headspace to be able to attend those — I was a wreck," said Hoke, a junior studying psychology and neuroscience. "I think there's something really special about like actually putting your physical body like out in the world where people can see you and like making noise."
Students said they were glad that state lawmakers passed legislation on background checks and secure firearm storage in the wake of the shooting, but demanded action on red flag law bills that passed the state Senate but haven't been voted on in the state House of Representatives. The proposed laws would allow individuals to petition a court to take away the firearms of people at risk to themselves or others. The four-bill package passed on Wednesday along party lines in a House committee.
"Red flag laws would have saved Alexandria, Brian and Arielle," said 20-year-old MSU junior Charlotte Plotzke, who is studying music and communications. "This movement doesn't stop. It doesn't stop a few weeks after a shooting. It doesn't stop until we get more than the bare minimum. We all deserve that. We all deserve to feel safe."
As the walkout made its way from Berkey Hall to the Sparty Statue, many students walking dogs or shuttling from classes stopped to join the chant of the names of their lost classmates. Hoke said the campus would never feel the same after the shooting.
"It was weird coming back (after the shooting) because it was like one of the first times where campus has been truly quiet. ... It was just so solemn," Hoke said. "Walking to class for the first time and walking by the Sparty statue, I just like sobbed."
Hoke returned to the Sparty statue for Wednesday's walkout and said the campus is starting to feel more normal as people start to heal but that doesn't mean it is safer.
MSU staff felt the drastic change on campus after the shooting as well. Marlene Green is a secretary in the School of Education and has worked at MSU for over 44 years. She chose to spend her lunch hour at the walkout because she loves MSU students and is "sick to death" of people continuing to die of gun violence.
"It hurts me deeply to see the students hurting," Green said. "The way to to get Congress or anybody to do anything, we need to vote the naysayers out."
