EAST LANSING, Mich. — Since the mass shooting on Feb. 13, Michigan State University has offered a variety of support to students, staff and university employees. Now, they are developing a whole new office to help people impacted by the tragedy.
"The second and third gunshots go off, everybody drops down. Everybody's minds go blank.," Max Cibor, an MSU freshman, said.
The tragedy that unfolded on Feb. 13 is something that students like Cibor will not be able to forget.
"The only thought running through everybody's minds is I'm going to die. And as sad as it sounds, that's the only thing going through your mind at least for me," Cibor said.
Now, a student support office, the Office of Resource and Support Coordination, will aim to help. It will be a central point for those directly impacted by the tragedy. The office will be driven by trauma-informed guidance and communications protocols.
"As we were taking a look at additional ways to support our campus community, our victims and our victim's families who are most directly impacted by this tragedy, this was one of the ways in which we could do that," said Dan Oslen, a university spokesperson.
Campus leaders say the unfortunate reality is they've been able to develop some best practices based on how other schools have responded to similar tragedies.
"So different universities who have gone through a similar tragedy have looked at the responses, and there's a model for how these offices can support beneficially support or campus community," Oslen said.
For now, if students or staff members need support, they can email ORSC@msu.edu.
