Spartan Nation is Spartan Strong! Additional Resources

Spartan Nation has been through some tough times in the past. This week has been the hardest week in the history of the school. The events that unfolded on Monday have left MSU, East Lansing and our surrounding communities shattered.

Remember the victims. Say their names.

Arielle Anderson, a junior from Grosse Pointe.

Brian Fraser, was a sophomore from Grosse Pointe

Alexandria Verner, a junior from Clawson

One thing about Sparan Nation is that we rise up to the occassion. As horrible as this week has been, there's some good that has come out of it. I've witnessed unprecedented levels of humanity. I've witnessed strangers embracing strangers because that's what was needed. We've seen U of M offer support. Ann Arbor has a rock, just like the one on the campus of MSU. The students at U of M painted their rock white and wrote "Spartan Strong" on it. This has been a very humbling week and as a community we are grateful for their support.

Trying to navigate the waters this week has been hard. A lot of groups have stepped up to help out with counseling services and more. Get the list here. I also asked our community if they knew of other services being offered. Spartan Nation stepped up and offered numerous suggestions. Togeter, we will make it through this. Please check out the resources below. One of the strongest things you can do in your life is "ask for help". There's no shame. These good folks are eager to help you.

Resources Available For Spartan Nation

MSU Student Health & Wellness - click on the link to get started with healing, there's more information on their website to help.

Ele's Place - Ele’s Place – Capital Region serves grieving children, teens, young adults and their families from throughout Mid-Michigan. Ele's place is excellent. Please check out their website.

Constellation Cat Cafe - this is straight from their Facebook page:

Your safety, your mental health, your happiness, and your education are important. This should never have happened to you. You should be safe at school. We have some free cat room sessions available for MSU students Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. (We'll be open regular hours today, but we're already pretty booked up.) Please sign up under the events tab on our website if you could use some cat therapy. But also, please utilize the crisis counselors at Hannah Community Center.

Our artist friend Kaity (aka The Sadsquatch) asked about sending some money over to buy coffee for students. Hit the donate button on this post if you want to send a Spartan a latte, and we'll try to cover drinks for as many students as we can this week. Also worth noting: if you had a visit booked and don't want to come anymore, we get that, too. Cancelling through your confirmation email should automatically trigger a refund. Message us if there are any issues getting your money back on your card.

Love you all so much.

MSU Counseling and Psychiatric Services - remember, you don't have to work thru this alone.

Dairy Cattle Teaching and Research Center - Jim Good, the manager invites the community out to spend some time with the animals on the farm. Animals are therapeutic.

East Lansing Public Library - they will be open for counseling services today, 2/15/23.

Ingham County Parks - from their website:

OUR HEARTS GO OUT TO ALL THOSE INVOLVED IN THE RECENT EVENTS AT MSU. FOR THOSE NEEDING A BREAK FROM EVERYTHING, WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO COME OUT AND RELAX, TAKE A WALK, RUN, AND RECREATE AT YOUR INGHAM COUNTY PARKS. WE WILL NOT BE COLLECTING PARKING FEES FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK AND THROUGH SUNDAY (FEBRUARY 19TH) IN THE HOPES THAT IF NEEDED, YOU TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY TO VISIT YOUR PARKS, EVEN IF TO JUST TAKE A DEEP BREATH OF FRESH AIR.

MSU Counseling and Psychiatric Hotline - call this number anytime, 24/7. Students can call CAPS at (517) 355-8270 and press “1” at the prompt to speak with a crisis counselor anytime.

Riverview Church - I was enlightened that Riverview Church started on campus 46 years ago. Spartan Strong.

I will continue to update this information. Spartan Strong!