The forecast predicts that the high will be 15 and the low will be 1.
Records show MSU’s $401M Williams donation was in motion months before public announcement
As MSU President Kevin Guskiewicz announced the university would be receiving a monumental $401 million commitment from MSU benefactors Greg and Dawn Williams on Dec. 5, 2025, he was capping off a busy week for the university’s athletics department. The school’s struggling head football coach Jonathan Smith had been sacked and his replacement, former Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald, had been hired days before the announcement, on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, respectively. On Dec. 2, The athletics department announced a new fundraising campaign set out to raise $1 billion. That moment, records obtained by The State News through a public record request show, was months in the making. Greg and Dawn Williams first sent a letter to Guskiewicz indicating they wanted to give MSU a $300 million gift on Oct. 6, 2025, nearly two months before the deal was announced.The letter provides a glimpse into how the Williamses’ first proposed their gift be allocated: $90 million to the athletic department’s Competitive Excellence Fund, $5.5 million to the Burgess Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, $3 million to the business college’s Risk Management and Financial Insurance Program, $1 million to the MSU Marching and Pep Bands and $500,000 to the Sparty mascot program. Also specified in the letter is an additional $200 million donation to the Competitive Excellence Fund, although additional details surrounding the donation were redacted by MSU. The first $100 million donation, the letter outlined, would be dispersed in $50 million packages released on the last days of 2027 and 2028.
‘Hadestown’ comes to Wharton this weekend only
The Tony Award-winning show Hadestown will stop at Wharton from January 30th to February 1st. Inspired by Greek mythology, Hadestown weaves together the love stories of Orpheus and Eurydice and Hades and Persephone in a modern twist, carrying audiences on a powerful journey through love, loss, and the meaning of devotion. Hawa Kamara, who plays Eurydice, thinks about the parallels between the two love stories, bringing in themes of what the world is dealing with today and has always dealt with, such as climate change, immigration, businesses, capitalism, and the control of power.
MSU, Fears escape Rutgers 88-79 as Michigan looms
All roads lead to Fears, but is he the only destination for MSU? After all signs pointed to No. 7 Michigan State losing its third game in a row at Rutgers and its third game of this season, Jeremy Fears Jr. put his team on his back and found a way to squirm out of New Jersey with an 88-79 win. This Friday, No. 3 Michigan and MSU will face off for each team’s most anticipated game of the year to decide first place in the Big Ten. Both 9-1 in the conference after Michigan escaped from No. 5 Nebraska’s grip at Crisler Center, it will be the first time the two teams square off in a top-10 matchup. For a team to succeed in March, the ability to win multiple ways is essential. MSU played its worst half of basketball of the year. The Spartans turned the ball over ten times, shot 37% from the field and trailed Rutgers by nine at the break. Nobody had more than five points in the first half, and the offense stagnated. MSU’s 28 first-half points tied its season-low in output. MSU was disjointed on offense, and with Fears picking up two first-half fouls, the team had no direction from its savvy point guard. After the game, Izzo was critical of his players committing turnovers due to lazy play, but said he was glad to get the win.
