Michigan State University Offers 'Healing Spaces' For Students To Share Fears, Anxieties Of Trump Presidency

EAST LANSING - – Michigan State is one of at least two universities in Michigan dedicating staff and resources to help students and faculty deal with the outcome of the presidential election.

Around 300 people attended and many shared their fears and anxieties of a Trump presidency at the Business College Complex following the election in an event organized by college administrators.

"For some students who are international students or who hold certain religious beliefs or marginalized identities, it’s a pretty scary time, not just here at just MSU, but across the United States,” said Antonio Pee, assistant director of residence education within MSU's east neighborhood.

University staff have a responsibly to address student concerns about the climate on campus, he said, "and need to make sure all of our students feel they are a part of this campus community."

Counselors and staff at the University of Michigan-Flint were made available Wednesday to address student concerns, and students at colleges across the country, including UCLA and the University of Texas-Austin, marched and protested Wednesday.

The Wednesday event hosted by MSU's Office of Student Affairs and Services is one of three MSU-sponsored events planned. On Monday and Tuesday, the MSU Union will have "healing spaces" where students will have the opportunity to discuss how the campus community can come together after a long and divisive election season.

Additionally, the MSU College Democrats are organizing a protest beginning at 5 p.m. today at The Rock to address racism, bigotry and hate on campus.

Some MSU students say the university is perpetuating a coddling climate on campus.

"If these events continue, it'll overall hurt students when they go into the real world where these kinds of safe spaces don’t exist," said Jeff Litten, president of the MSU College Republicans.

Terrence Frazier, vice president of the Office of Student Affairs and Services, said the event was a learning opportunity for students, and was open to faculty and staff as well.

"We're teaching students different ways they can address these kinds of issues and help address them in their communities," he said.

Wednesday night’s event was planned a few weeks ahead of the election, Pee said.

Litten said he doubts the event would have been as well attended or publicized by the university had Hillary Clinton won the election.

While student-led efforts are important, MSU itself needed to take a prominent role in addressing concerns, said Lorenzo Santavicca, president of MSU's student government.

"There was a lot of uncertainty and fear (at Wednesday's event)" Santavicca said. "Students also talked about not being sure what next few years are going to look like."

Racial tensions at MSU have bubbled to the surface several times this fall. The MSU Homecoming Parade was interrupted by protesters who demanded President Lou Anna Simon take a stance on the Black Lives Matter movement. During its Board of Trustees meeting in October, students again called on the administration to address racism on campus.

Ahmad Khalid Hassan, whose family emigrated from the Middle East, though he was born in the U.S., said he attended Wednesday's debriefing to ask how MSU will respond to incidents of racism and bigotry moving forward.

"Trump's language affects me heavily," Hassan said about Trump's proposal to restriction immigration from countries where terrorism is a threat.

Around the country protests have taken place and incidents of escalating threats against minorities have been documented. Middle school students at one Michigan school were caught on video chanting 'Build A Wall' -- a video which went viral in the days following the election.