Spartans Against Gun Violence hold vigil at Michigan State University
EAST LANSING, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - The Michigan State University group, Spartans Against Gun Violence, organized a candlelight vigil on campus Tuesday night.
The student-led group was established last year and is interested in making a change to gun laws and policies. Members held the vigil on Tuesday, a day after students returned to campus and a week after the mass shooting that left three students dead.
At the vigil, students wrapped their arms around one another as the band played their alma mater, "MSU Shadows."
"I was kind of hoping to only hear that song at graduation, so it's kind of weird to hear it at a time like this," said MSU junior Amanda Stevenson.
Stevenson said she came to the vigil to pay her respects to the victims, show her support for their families, and to be there for her Spartan community.
"It's kind of crazy because, for many students who go here, this isn't their first encounter with gun violence," she said.
For some students, being back on campus felt weird. Others felt rushed, and some say they felt scared.
"It was really hard to see all the doors shut down and the flowers all by it. And especially the Union, that's where I would go with my mom and my family when they would visit me. The fact that it happened there, and that's a safe place for a lot of us students here. It's just really scary," said junior Emily Witte.
"I just hope that there can be a resolution to kind of help this issue because it still keeps going on and it's just continuing. And the fact that it happened so close to home on my campus, it's just awful," she said.
On campus, students said it feels wrong to laugh, and wrong to have fun with your friends. But those are things they won't be taking for granted.
"Never leave words unspoken. Check up on people, even if you haven't seen them in a while. Talk to a classmate you've never met before. Because you just never know sometimes. And we rely on the connections that we make in this world," said junior Matia Rourke.
The phrase, "Spartan Strong," has been used a lot in the MSU community, but speakers at the vigil said they are not strong. They are miserable and angry. But eventually, they will heal, adding that moving forward does not mean forgetting.