C

ontent 
warning: 
This 
story contains references 
to gun violence.
The typical news cycle lasts 
one week.
After seven days, old stories 
are filtered out and replaced 
with the new ones. As that fresh 
content takes hold of headlines, 
fills pages and occupies our news 
feed, we start to forget. The 
information from last week fades 
in order to make room for this 
week’s information. Seven days 
later, it happens all over again.
But Monday marked a week 
since the tragic shooting on 
Michigan 
State’s 
campus. 
A 
week since a shooter stole the 
lives of Arielle Anderson, Brian 
Fraser and Alexandria Verner. 
A week since five other victims 
had their lives changed forever. 
A week since every Spartan lost 
any sense of security in the place 
they call home.
How, then, could we turn the 
page and forget?
It would be disrespectful, 
irresponsible and heartless. It 
should be impossible.
Unfortunately, 
though, 
we 
quickly turn that page far too 
often. In a world — in a country — 
that simply replaces one tragedy 
with the next, we manage to 

regularly 
sweep 
inhumane 
horrors under the rug in a matter 
of seven days.
In just the first six weeks of 
2023, there’s been over 70 mass 
shootings in the United States 
— an average of nearly two a 
day. The numbers aren’t just 
staggering, they’re unbelievable. 
This amount of gun violence and 
death can’t be accepted.
Yet here we are, going about 
our lives like it’s normal.
Meanwhile, in the wake of 
tragedy, we emphasize a return 
to “normalcy.”
I do not want to go back to 
a normal where people have 
to fear going to class — where 
deciding to go study could be a 
life or death decision. I do not 
want to go back to a normal that 
involves texting my friends on 
a Monday night praying that 
they’re alive. I do not want to 
go back to a normal where a girl 
I shared halls and classrooms 
with in high school is now dead.
I do not want to go back to our 
current normal.
Last week was a moving 
display of unity. Every day, it was 
markedly obvious how little the 
rivalry between Michigan and 
Michigan State mattered. We all 
had our friends, our family and 
every student in East Lansing 
in our thoughts. Spartan gear 
adorned the Wolverine campus, 
images of support were shared 

on social media and it was clear 
that people mattered, not their 
affiliation.
Everybody in the state of 
Michigan was on the side of 
healing.
And for some, sports was part 
of that healing journey. 
On 
Wednesday, 
Michigan 
State coach Tom Izzo spoke at a 
vigil to honor the victims.
“Our hearts are heavy,” Izzo 
said. “Our loss has been great. 

Our lives have been permanently 
changed. 
With 
a 
shared 
commitment to help each other 
and a promise to remember 
those we have lost, we will find 
joy again.”
To many, his words meant 
a lot. Sports is their place of 
comfort, of escape, and Izzo is 
a living legend. And to all the 
parents of Spartans, Izzo offered 
empathy.
“(My son) Steven was at one 

of the buildings two nights ago 
about 10 minutes after things 
happened,” 
Izzo 
said. 
“So 
sometimes we don’t understand 
because we haven’t been through 
it. That little moment brought me 
a little closer to understanding.”
Then, the week built toward 
a fatefully scheduled moment of 
togetherness. The Michigan and 
Michigan State men’s basketball 
teams were set to play Saturday.
After everything, it’s what 

many people needed.
“We can’t do anything about 
what’s happened,” Izzo told 
reporters 
Thursday. 
“Except 
hopefully do a better job of 
making sure it doesn’t happen 
again. But we can do something 
about moving forward. Because 
there’s probably a brother or 
sister of one of those three that 
has to live. There’s a mom, and 
a dad, and hopefully a smile 
on your face — whether it’s a 

Michigan fan being mad at me, 
or a Michigan State fan being 
happy, hopefully — it just brings 
everybody together.”
The game succeeded in that. 
It offered a moment of silence, 
‘Michigan Basketball stands with 
MSU’ shirts, ‘Spartan Strong’ 
banners in the Maize Rage, green 
lights and LED wristbands and a 
general outpouring of support.
The 
game 
between 
the 
two in-state rivals was the 
culmination 
of 
a 
week 
of 
promoted togetherness. From 
Monday 
to 
Saturday, 
news 
showed 
communities 
coming 
together 
and 
condemning 
the horrid act of violence. We 
offered support, gave our prayers 
and said that this should never 
happen again.
But then it was Monday. And a 
new cycle began.
Michigan 
State 
students 
returned to class. Headlines 
returned to normal. And we 
returned to our lives.
But there are kids who couldn’t 
do that Monday morning. Arielle 
Anderson, Brian Fraser and 
Alexandria Verner could not do 
that Monday. Think about that 
and read their names again.
Arielle Anderson.
Brian Fraser.
Alexandria Verner.
They are not just names. They 
are people. People who lost their 
lives, people with family, people 

with friends and people who had 
a future stolen from them.
They are people that we cannot 
forget, and people we cannot let 
the never-ending churn of the 
news cycle forget. We must say 
these people’s names louder. 
Really hear them.
Remind everyone again this 
week that you stand ‘Spartan 
Strong.’ 
Remind 
them 
that 
the tragedy that occurred is 
unacceptable. Remind them that 
we need a change.
Columbine. 
Virginia 
Tech. 
Sandy Hook. Parkland. Uvalde. 
Oxford. Michigan State.
Each time, we watch children 
die. Then we move on until the 
next child is killed. Then we 
move on again, until the cycle 
restarts.
It cannot continue.
If you need this time to heal, 
heal. But if you can bear it, 
now is the time for rage. Speak 
their names, condemn violence, 
stand up against the weapons 
that can do this. Do not let new 
stories take the place of the 
people whose lives were forever 
changed due to inaction.
Do not let the ferocious tide of 
“normalcy” convince you that we 
can go back to normal.
This is not normal.
We can’t let it be.

Don’t let the world move on from Michigan State

NICHOLAS STOLL
Daily Sports Writer

Design by Lys Goldman

SPORTSWEDNESDAY

Remind everyone again this week 
that you stand ‘Spartan Strong.’ 
Remind them that the tragedy that 
occurred is unacceptable. 
Remind them that we need a change.

Photo: ANNA FUDER/Daily

February 22, 2023 — 12
The Michigan Daily

