Today’s weather forecast is predicting cloudy with rain and snow showers in the morning and becoming all snow in the afternoon with a high of 36 degrees and a low of 29 degrees. For the weekend it looks like it will be low to mid 40’s with sun and clouds mixed.

MSU to lock on-campus buildings in evenings, ramp up safety measures

Buildings on Michigan State University’s campus will soon require people to swipe their MSU ID card to enter Mondays through Fridays from 6 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. following the mass shooting on campus.

Starting March 13, buildings that will be affected by this new policy are the same buildings currently locked from 11 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. Most buildings on campus follow this rule.

Next fall, MSU will prioritize adding new door locks to the over 1,300 academic classrooms on campus.

MSU will also increase the number of cameras in place around campus, including academic buildings and Green Light phones. MSU Police and Public Safety is continuing its request for a proposal on centralizing the on-campus camera system, a process anticipated to wrap up in late March.

Last month, MSU was the only university in the Big Ten to obtain an emergency readiness accreditation. University leaders said in an email to the MSU community that they will conduct an after-action evaluation of how emergency personnel and leaders responded to the crisis, as well as solicit a third-party review.

University leaders said in an email that “This is a common practice for education institutions that have experienced similar situations and a chance to review what went well during the emergency response and what could improve.”

The Black Violin experience brings genre-bending performance to the Wharton Center

The Black Violin Experience does not offer an average classical music performance. The violinists fuse different genres of music together, particularly hip-hop and classical music to create music over different genres. They play with a keyboardist, drummer and a DJ to bring the experience to the audience.

The duo, Kev Marcus and Will Baptiste, performed at the Wharton Center this past Tuesday.

Baptiste and Marcus began playing together when they met at orchestra class at Fort Lauderdale High School. After graduating, they wanted to join forces together to become music producers that incorporated classical music to their songs.

Baptiste said people are drawn to the way that the group can play over popular music.

The duo has received two Grammy nominations. Their album, “Take the Stairs” received a 2021 nomination for Best Contemporary Album and their song, “The Message” with Blind Boys of Alabama received a nomination for Best Americana Performance at this year’s Grammys.

The Black Violin Experience is continuing their national tour throughout March and April. The group often performs in urban communities, giving performances to students while engaging with youth symphonies in various communities. As part of the TurnAround Arts program and an ongoing mentorship program, Marcus and Baptiste connect with hundreds of thousands of students at low-income and Title 1 schools.

Everything you need to know about MSU spring semester graduation

With the spring semester’s end in sight, soon-to-be graduates at Michigan State University are tasked with preparing themselves for one of life’s significant milestones: college graduation.

Here are a couple of things that you may want to know.

First, Michigan State Senior University Academic Events Planner Heather Fink said the “hot button” question for the commencement office is the difference between applying to graduate and registering to participate.

The graduate application runs through the registrar’s office while registering to participate is achieved through the commencement website.

To ensure their names are included in the commencement program, students had to apply to graduate by Feb. 20. Students with directory restrictions on their accounts will not have their names printed in the program.

Next, The Spartan Spirit Shop partnered with the commencement office as the official cap and gown supplier for MSU’s campus. Students can also purchase a cap and gown at the Student Bookstore.

Cap and gowns will be available at the Spartan Spirit Shop starting March 20 up until commencements.

College-level commencement ceremonies will take place between Friday, May 5 and Sunday, May 7. Each ceremony will last approximately two hours. MSU will utilize the Breslin Center and the Wharton Center for these ceremonies.

Finally, no admission tickets are required for convocation and individual commencement ceremonies.

“You can bring no guests, you can bring 20 guests, it doesn’t matter,” Fink said. “We do not ticket for guests.”

All commencement ceremonies are live-streamed and can be accessed through the MSU commencement website’s homepage.

For more information regarding the commencement schedule, regalia information, or anything relating to spring graduation can be found on the university’s commencement website.

Based on original reporting by Morgan Womack, Jaden Beard and Thomas Cobb.

To end our last episode of the week, here are a few announcements!

Here is the MSU home athletic line-up for the weekend…

Today

• Men’s Tennis will go up against Western Michigan at 5PM in the MSU Indoor Tennis Center.

Tomorrow

• Men’s Basketball will play against Ohio State at 12PM at the Breslin Center.

Sunday

• Gymnastics will go up against Bowling Green & LIU at 1PM.

For our last announcement, there will not be any episodes aired next week due to spring break. Hopefully everyone has a safe, fun, and healthy week off!