MSU community unites two years after mass shooting
There were outdoor support spaces across campus providing heated tents, hot chocolate and comfort dogs. Volunteers ensured that everyone had a place to pause and reflect.
For many Spartan community members, this day is personal. Bella Short, now an MSU junior, recalls the fear of that night.
'I was a freshman here when it happened and I remember it like it was yesterday,' she says. 'Just remembering the lives that we lost is really important and that's something I'll never forget and I know people at Michigan State will never forget.'
For others who weren't there when tragedy struck, it was still impactful. Caitlin Sullivan, a sophomore, shares what the anniversary means to her.
'This day means to just gather around each other and to be there for each other and really take into account the changes that need to be made in our government and in our society,' she said after placing a flower at the base of the Spartan Statue. 'It speaks much volumes to me as to what action needs to be taken in order to protect our students and protect kids in the US and all over the world'
Volunteers like Sean Brown played a vital role in the day's remembrance.
'MSU is such a special place because of the shared love and passion for the community as a whole,' Sean says. 'Students deal with so much in their day-to-day life and then to have something huge like this happen, I am glad to be able to do what I can… There are a lot of volunteers here today which really shows the commitment of staff, faculty, and community members have to making sure the students get that extra support today when they need it the most.'
MSU President Kevin Guskiewicz also paid his respects at the Spartan statue.
'Many of the students here today were on this campus two years ago on that tragic day,' he said. 'It's important that we didn't hold classes today so that the student students, faculty and staff had the opportunity to reflect.'
He emphasized that today is about honoring the past, supporting each other and ensuring a safer future.
'We're trying to find ways to put measures in place such that an event like that, a tragic event like that will never happen again. We're working hard at that, trying to educate people, but most importantly today is about supporting each other.'
While this community continues to heal, they say their resilience remains 'Spartan Strong.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
19-07-2025
- Yahoo
These 'clumsy' beetles sometimes end up stuck in your hair. What to know about June bugs
Clumsy, large and, perhaps, mysterious beetles are once again active in Michigan: the June bug. "The term May or June beetles refers to some 10 different species of beetles in the genus Phyllophaga, that are known to injure turfgrass," Michigan State University's extension on integrated pest management said. "Eggs are laid, and hatch in June to early July." In Michigan, these beetles can be found in both the Upper and Lower Peninsulas. Their bodies can appear brown, black, tan or chestnut. They range from 0.5 to 1 inch long, according to MSU's Extension. While June (or July) bugs are harmless to people and are nocturnal insects, more than one person has been slightly traumatized when the clumsy bugs got stuck in their hair or on their clothes. Around the middle of summer, female June bugs lay eggs underground, then after a lengthy development period the new beetles emerge when the weather is warm. As June bugs keep flying around in July, here's what to know in Michigan: What do June bugs look like in Michigan? June bugs are a collective name given to scarab beetles in the Melolonthinae subfamily of beetles. A June bugs life cycle takes place mostly underground. For a couple weeks around mid-summer, females lay eggs. Their larvae eventually hatch into white grubs and remain underground for two to three years, according to MSU's Extension. The grubs hibernate over the winter and molt twice, according to Once the grubs develop into their adult form, an oval-shaped beetle, they emerge from the ground when the weather is warm around late May or early June — then females mate, lay eggs and the cycle repeats. "The exact timing of their emergence can vary based on geographical location and specific weather conditions," according to Mr. Buggs, a pest control company based in Alabama. Are June bugs dangerous? No, June bugs are not dangerous. They come out at night and are drawn to lights. They can cause damage to plants from underground by eating the roots causing the plants to wilt prematurely. To keep June bugs away from your house or backyard, Garrety Home Pros (a northeastern homeowners service) recommends these tips: Make a natural June bug trap, by mixing molasses with water in a container with a funnel neck. Introduce nematodes, June bug larvae are nutritional and essential for soil worms called nematodes to thrive. They provide a natural alternative to eradicating larvae populations. Create a bird-friendly environment, natural predators to June bugs, that will attract them to your lawn or garden. Keep a clean porch and lawn, June bugs and other insects prefer to hide while they search for food. Replace your porch lights or turn them off. LED lights may be efficient enough to mislead the bugs since orange or yellow bulbs fall outside their detectable light sensory scope. What do June bugs eat? Adult June bugs are called chafers because they eat leaves and flowers of trees and shrubs — they have gained a reputation for ruining gardens and being a nuisance especially in groups, according to The larvae feed on the roots of grasses and other plants as they develop underground. Why do June bugs crash into everything? June bugs have large wings and heavy bodies, which make them poor flyers. They can only fly for short periods of time and take breaks oftentimes flipped over, Plunkett's Pest Control explained. What is the difference between a Japanese beetle and a june bug? Similar in appearance and life cycle, Japanese beetles and the June bugs get confused with each other, but they are different species. The Japanese beetle is native to Japan and an invasive species in the U.S. They have metallic green bodies and brown wings. Similar to June bugs, they develop underground and eat plants, granting them the reputation of ruining gardens or crops, according to the National Invasive Species Information Center. Japanese beetles often can be seen flying around trees in groups. In Michigan, Japanese beetles are widespread and sightings in the state are no longer mapped. Contact Sarah Moore @ smoore@ This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Summer in Michigan means June bugs. What to know about the clumsy beetles Solve the daily Crossword
Axios
19-06-2025
- Axios
Websites expand ancestry records of enslaved people
Two genealogy sites are adding troves of historical materials about enslaved people in the U.S. to databases, which could give many of their descendants a fuller picture of their families' histories. The moves come as the nation on Thursday celebrates Juneteenth, the annual celebration of the end of slavery. Why it matters: In recent years, descendants of enslaved people have gained unprecedented access to collections of long-lost family records online — made possible by advances in technology, AI, and DNA testing. The big picture: A growing number of Black Americans are tracing how their families were torn apart, received Anglo names and sold across the country because of slavery, which began in the British colonies more than 400 years ago and officially ended with the 13th Amendment in 1865. They're also learning about how some relatives escaped slavery and what their lives were like in the aftermath of emancipation. Driving the news: announced last week that it will significantly expand its free Articles of Enslavement records collection — an archive of newspaper articles documenting the experiences of enslaved people in the U.S. The website is expanding its archive nearly fourfold, using proprietary AI models and machine learning to index 110,000 newly discovered articles that reference more than half a million people. Many of the original newspaper articles contain never-before-seen information about enslaved people in communities where courthouse and community records were otherwise destroyed or lost. How it works: Users can visit Ancestry's expanded landing page dedicated to enslavement records and search by name or explore a state with the most records. AI will comb through the once-hard-to-search data for names of enslaved people, connecting names in Ancestry's other databases of public documents to piece together puzzles. Zoom in: Michigan State University announced this week it's publishing new data on its "Enslaved: Peoples of the Historical Slave Trade" website, That's a project in partnership with other organizations, such as FamilySearch International, that documents the lives of enslaved people of African descent. The latest data release makes information regarding 2 million Black Americans born before emancipation in the 1900 Census available for discovery and download. The expanded dataset will significantly aid researchers' ability to identify formerly enslaved people and their families for academic study, the university said. What they're saying: "Tracing people from the era of enslavement into the generations that followed emancipation presents exceptional challenges to descendants and researchers," Walter Hawthorne, an MSU history professor and head of the project, said in a statement. That's because managing databases across multiple sites remains challenging, along with ensuring the long-term preservation of projects and resources, MSU said. "The details of these records can lead to key breakthroughs in helping descendants of previously enslaved people in the U.S. make discoveries about their families prior to 1870," Nicka Sewell-Smith, Ancestry's senior story producer and genealogist, said in an announcement. State of play: Juneteenth celebrations began in Texas, and commemorate June 19, 1865 — the day Union Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, with news that the Emancipation Proclamation had been signed by President Lincoln more than two years earlier.
Associated Press
18-06-2025
- Associated Press
2 Million Black Americans Born Prior to Emancipation in the 1900 US Census
New dataset from FamilySearch bridges generations documented in the 1900 United States census ' is excited and honored that FamilySearch is publishing a complete dataset through our project.'— Walter Hawthorne, MSU Professor of History SALT LAKE CITY, UT, UNITED STATES, June 18, 2025 / / -- Michigan State University (MSU) and FamilySearch International are happy to announce an extensive expansion to MSU's online collection Enslaved: Peoples of the Historical Slave Trade ( ), a project that documents the lives of formerly enslaved individuals of African descent. The newly expanded collection uses 1900 United States census data to significantly enhance the ability to discover formerly enslaved individuals and their families for genealogical and academic research. This exciting new, free resource can be accessed now at and MSU and FamilySearch determined that the 1900 census would significantly benefit MSU's initiative because of its potential to identify about 2 million people named in the census who were likely enslaved before emancipation in the United States. (Enslaved individuals were not named in many historical records, including U.S. censuses. Censuses taken after 1863 are sometimes the first records to include these individuals by name.) FamilySearch then worked with Brigham Young University's Record Linking Lab to identify the individuals in the census, along with links to the original census images on and records in the FamilySearch Family Tree. To search the 1900 U.S. Census, filtered for 2 million Black Americans born before emancipation, search the collection directly at 'FamilySearch is the premier genealogical website in the world. It has an immense amount of searchable data about individuals who appear in a great range of primary sources—from censuses to baptismal records to birth records and more. is excited and honored that FamilySearch is publishing a complete dataset through our project. This is a rare collaboration between a center that caters mostly to an academic audience and a nonprofit organization that caters to the general public,' said Walter Hawthorne, MSU professor of history and head of the project. Tracing people from the era of enslavement to the generations that followed emancipation presents exceptional challenges to descendants and researchers, Hawthorne noted. Progress has been made in recent years due to a growing number of archives, databases, and collections that help organize and make sense of records of enslavement. These resources have only recently become readily accessible for scholarly and public use. Such advancements come with the unique challenges of finding and accessing these databases online and the preservation of these projects and resources. is a constellation of resources built to address these challenges. Its primary focus is individuals who were enslaved, who enslaved others, or participated in the trading of enslaved persons. 'We're honored to contribute to this important project that brings greater visibility to the lives and legacies of formerly enslaved individuals,' said Stephen Valentine, FamilySearch executive vice president for North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa. 'In addition to sharing this valuable dataset, we're excited that scholars and descendants can access original historical images and linked family records in the FamilySearch Family Tree. These connections enrich academic research and empower families to discover and preserve their heritage in deeply personal ways.' The crowdsourcing capabilities of the free FamilySearch Family Tree have been instrumental to the development of multiple record-linking projects by Brigham Young University (BYU) and will enable the continued enhancement of MSU's 'Two Million Black Americans Born Prior to Emancipation in the 1900 United States Census' dataset as a portal to deeper research possibilities. Professor Joe Price, director of BYU's Record Linking Lab, explained that the new dataset, combined with Family Tree, will allow people to explore their family history and see their personal connections to any ancestors who were likely formerly enslaved. The rich data in the 1900 census will then open the possibility to link back to previous census records (1880 and 1870) and eventually to records that predate emancipation. As individuals contribute their own genealogical information and uncover new records, these contributions will strengthen scholarly research, enriching our understanding of the lives of formerly enslaved people and their families. Search the new 1900 United States census dataset today at and RELATED • Find your African American Ancestors on • Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation: 1900 U.S. Census Essay and Searchable Dataset • Tutorial to download the 1900 US Census dataset on Kristina Poznan [email protected] Legal Disclaimer: EIN Presswire provides this news content 'as is' without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
