Today’s weather forecast is predicting cloudy with some snow showers with a high of 30 degrees and a low of 28 degrees.
MSU unveils Alienware Esports Lounge for student learning, connection
Michigan State University’s new Alienware Esports Lounge in the Communication Arts and Sciences building was unveiled at a ceremonial ribbon cutting last Wednesday. The lounge, made in partnership with Dell Technologies, is the university’s first-ever dedicated esports space.
Esports, short for electronic sports, is a rapidly growing industry centered around organized competitive video game play. Michigan State has varsity esports teams as well as clubs. The MSU Esports Club Association is one of the largest student organizations on campus with more than 1,500 members.
MSU Interim President Teresa Woodruff, who spoke at the unveiling, said this facility and the establishment of a varsity esports program were made possible by students advocating for the investment in esports at MSU.
This space is the first of its kind at the university and it will set a foundation for the growing esports community at the university.
MSU instructors navigate return to Berkey Hall despite lack of administrative guidance
Since the Jan. 8 reopening of Berkey Hall, one of the sites of the February mass shooting that killed three people and injured five at Michigan State University, students enrolled in classes in the building have had varying levels of comfort, with some requesting accommodations. The university has largely passed off that responsibility to the individual instructors of the classes.
Divya Victor, an associate professor of English who teaches classes on poetry and non-fiction writing said she was teaching in Berkey about five hours before the shooting took place. She was personally ready to return to Berkey for the spring semester.
Despite Victor’s willingness to return to Berkey personally, she said she feels solidarity with the students who protested the reopening and are bringing attention to the “lack of administrative response.”
Victor said in protesting the reopening, students are “creating small icons for bigger problems.” She said this, in effect, brings more attention to the national conversation on creating positive change for the nation’s gun violence problem.
As far as providing accommodations for her students, Victor has tried to make her students feel comfortable. Victor said one of her students asked if a friend could come with her to the first day of class, which she allowed.
While Victor has not had any students request online options for her class, she said she doubts the university would support her if she expressed a desire to go that route. She also said instructors were overworked during the COVID-19 pandemic when being asked to provide multiple modalities for their courses and never were properly compensated for that work.
MSU National Pan-Hellenic Council holds blankets, card-making event to support community
Students gathered in the Student Services Building last Friday night to attend a blanket and card-making event hosted by Michigan State University’s National Pan-Hellenic Council, or NPHC.
MSU NPHC members and non-members alike attended the event to meet new people and create products that will be sent to children going through hardships as a gesture of comfort.
NPHC External Vice President and psychology senior Lillian Lockhart came to the event. Lockhart, who is also a member of the Delta Zeta Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., said NPHC stands to bring nine sororities and fraternities together by serving communities.
Associative Students of MSU, or ASMSU, representative and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. member Joya Bailey was one of many coordinators for this effort. Bailey said events like these are hosted in order to attract like-minded individuals.
Bailey said they try to host service-based events at least once a month to promote and emphasize the importance of community. The more they can do, the better, she said.
Based on original reporting by Lauren Coin, Owen McCarthy and Amy Cho.
