The forecast predicts that the high will be 29 and the low will be 19. Happy Holidays!
Everything you need to know for MSU fall commencement 2025
Michigan State University is preparing to celebrate its Spartans and their achievements with this year’s Fall commencement, which will be held on Dec. 12 and Dec. 13. From speakers to times of specific ceremonies, here’s everything you need to know before attending.
Times of ceremonies:
The ceremony for students receiving doctorate, master’s, and Educational Specialist degrees will be held on Friday, Dec. 12 at 3:30 p.m.
Other ceremonies will take place on Saturday, Dec. 13, between 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. for seniors graduating from the following colleges:
9-10:30 a.m:
Arts and Humanities (Residential College)
Arts and Letters Education
James Madison
Music
Nursing
Social Science
12-1:30 p.m.
Engineering
Lyman Briggs
Natural Science
3-4:30 p.m:
Agriculture and Natural Resources
Communication Arts and Sciences
Eli Broad College of Business
Congratulations to the fall class of 2025
Political RSOs navigate inter-group dynamics and influence amid record student engagement
Students are now more ‘accepting’ of violence in discourse, with 38% of MSU students considering it acceptable to use violence to stop someone from speaking on campus, at least in rare cases, according to FIRE College Speech Rankings. Furthermore, increased concern about the safety of campus discourse was raised after conservative influencer Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
Even so, students are becoming more involved in political activities, joining RSOs such as MSU College Democrats and MSU College Republicans. According to the organizations’ leaders, both groups have seen record-high student attendance, solidifying their status as some of the most prominent college political organizations in the state. MSU College Democrats is the largest club chapter nationwide, and MSU College Republicans is the largest chapter in Michigan. In an interview with The State News, MSU College Republicans Secretary and TPUSA President Ty Bommarito described the current state of MSU’s Political RSOs as a ‘rising tide,’ noting that the successes of political groups will have an all-around impact on Political RSOs.
‘Fear-based’ leadership looms over fundraising department
Tensions are growing inside a Michigan State University department as it faces its biggest test yet. University Advancement, the office responsible for courting benefactors and securing their donations, is in the midst of a record-setting capital campaign. It’s a timely endeavor. As MSU navigates massive cuts to federal research funding and anxieties about the future of its state appropriations, money is tight. The Vice President in charge of fundraising, Kim Tobin, projects confidence that her department is up for the tall task. She leads a staff of hundreds, charged with eagerly cheerleading the university to deep-pocketed alums. But behind closed doors, their green-and-white grins are fading. Since Tobin took over in 2022, her leadership style has alienated some staffers. A consultant she hired to assess morale once noted that employees “do not feel safe at work,” and a recent assessment of Tobin’s leadership style described it as “authoritarian or fear-based.” In her three years at MSU, Tobin has also been the subject of six complaints submitted to the university’s misconduct hotline. As tensions have grown, staffers say Tobin has insulated herself with a circle of loyal lieutenants drawn from her previous institution.
Fundraising VP responds to State News story: ‘Leadership comes with difficult choices’
Michigan State University’s vice president for fundraising responded Wednesday to a State News report on employees’ issues with her leadership style, sending a lengthy note of appreciation to her staff that credited it with the department’s successes. Vice President for University Advancement Kim Tobin was the subject of a State News report published wednesday . Drawing on interviews with employees and public records of consultants’ cultural assessments of her unit, the story detailed staffers’ perceptions that Tobin rewards loyalty, punishes dissent and siloes lower-ranking personnel from an insular circle of advisers. The revelations about Tobin’s unit and her response to them come as it navigates its loftiest test yet: Advancement is in the midst of a record-setting $4 billion capital campaign.
