OUR COMMUNITY

“I WAS JUST GLAD TO 
HANG OUT AT HILLEL 
WITH MY FRIENDS 
WHO ALL HAD SIMILAR 
EXPERIENCES. I MAY 
BE HANGING AROUND 

HERE FOR A WHILE.”

— STUDENT CAITLIN FINERTY

continued from page 17

18 | FEBRUARY 23 • 2023 

ON THE COVER

want to be alone. That’s how she found 
herself the evening of the shooting, as 
her roommate of the duplex they shared 
was not at home. Finerty said she spent 
four hours locked and barricaded in 
her bathroom with the lights out, only 
leaving briefly to retrieve her phone 
and laptop chargers. She was especially 
concerned because she lives just three 
blocks north of the Student Union 
building. She said she heard sirens and 
helicopters throughout the night.
“I stayed in touch with my neighbors, 
with whom I share a common wall,
” 
explained Finerty. “Every time I was 
going to move around, I let them know 
because I didn’t want to scare them.
” 
Finerty said she was grateful that 
Hillel had opened its doors the next day 
and found comfort knowing that there 
would be food, the company of others, 
and the presence of rabbis from many 
synagogues who arrived at MSU Hillel 

in staggered shifts to be with students. 
“It was great that the rabbis were here, 
and counselors from JFS, who I chatted 
with,
” Finerty said. “But after a while, I 
was just glad to hang out at Hillel with 
my friends who all had similar experi-
ences. I may be hanging around here for 
a while.
” 

THE COMFORT OF HOME
Instead of remaining on campus, Micole 
Wolfe, 19, of West Bloomfield decided 
to get in her car and drive 
home the morning after the 
shooting. As the house man-
ager of her sorority house, 
Wolfe said she learned about 
the shooting as her sorority 
was wrapping up an evening 
event. 
Wolfe said living in 
the Grand River and Albert Avenue 
neighborhood of East Lansing, she had 

Micole 
Wolfe

Rabbi Bentzion Shemtov 
of MSU Chabad is 
flanked by students the 
day after the shooting 
on their way to a vigil.

