February 15, 2022

Statement on the Mass Shooting
at Michigan State University

From Andy Brantley, President and CEO, CUPA-HR

Yet another senseless act of gun violence in our country, this time (again) on a college campus, ended the all-too-short lives of three students and critically injured five others. Arielle Diamond Anderson, Brian Fraser, Alexandria Verner — not nameless and faceless victims — were children, grandchildren, sisters, brothers, friends, students, classmates. We grieve with Arielle's, Brian's and Alexandria’s families, but we are also horrified and frightened that a similar senseless act could happen to our children, our parents, our friends or us. Like many of you, I struggle to comprehend the motivation behind such a horrific act, how the perpetrator had access to weapons, and why this continues to happen in our country.

One of our most important responsibilities as higher education leaders is the health, safety and well-being of our faculty, staff and students. Please commit to doing more than offering thoughts and prayers. Our community needs our leadership and support now. The impact and potential trauma extend far beyond the Michigan State campus. We must also acknowledge that a similar, senseless act could potentially occur on our campuses and make time now to assess and potentially improve our current policies and procedures.

CUPA-HR has created and curated resources you can access and use now to help your community address mental health, health and well-being, workplace violence and crisis management. Please review and use them. If there are resources you think might augment what we have collected, please send them to [email protected].

Hug your loved ones, hug your friends, reach out to a colleague or friend you haven’t connected with in a while to say hello. And last, but definitely not least, please remember to take care of you.