General Talking Points and Conversation Guide
After A Campus Incident

Beginning the Conversation.

• Start by welcoming students and introducing yourself. If you have not met the student before, ask for name, pronouns, year at MSU, etc. If more than one student is present, make sure students introduce themselves to others in the space.
• Thank students for attending and acknowledging the difficulty of the incident. 

Identify Goals of the conversation.

• A introduction suggestion: “The goal of this conversation is to provide students an opportunity to share their immediate thoughts and feelings the incident has raised. As educators and Spartans, we would like to know how we can best support you and your peers as well as we can continue our commitment to foster community at inclusion at MSU”
• It also may be helpful to mention that the goal of the space is dialogue, “Dialogue is about shared inquiry, a way of thinking and reflecting together.”
• Note that students will approach this conversation from varied emotional places and that all expressions of emotions are welcomed.
• Lastly some students might have clear visions of what the University should be doing as action steps. It is suggested to allow space for some of those ideas but also remind students of the intended goal.

If time is available and needed, establish Community Intentions.

• This is suggested if having conversations with several students, especially if they are not an intact group. A quick and accessible way to do this is through the acronym ROPES:
  • R=Respect
  • O=Open Mindedness
  • P=Participation/pass (Step Up/Step Back)
  • E=Experiment with new ideas
  • S=Sensitivity/Safety (Confidentiality)

Provide a “What We Know” of the Incident.

• Offer known of publicized facts of the incident. It’s often helpful to do this as a timeline, chronological order. A few suggestions from MSU Interim Deputy Police Chief Chris Rozman’s statements (the late hours of 2/13/23):
  • The first report of shots fired came at 8:18 p.m. ET from Berkey Hall, an academic building on the northern end of campus. Officers responded to the building within minutes and found several shooting victims, including two who died.
  • Immediately after that, another shooting was reported at the nearby student union building. That’s where the third slain victim was found.
  • It’s not known how long the suspect was on campus before opening fire
  • Hours after the first gunshots rang out, the suspect “was contacted by law enforcement off campus,” Rozman said.
  • Afterward, it appeared the “suspect has died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.”
  • The university has moved into emergency operations for the next two days (Feb. 14-15). Students will see a continued police presence as investigators probe multiple scenes. Classes will resume on Monday, 2/20/23

• It’s important to relay to students that some information they request may not be given due to campus policy and privacy laws. Acknowledge how that might be limiting and frusterating.
• Lastly, it may be helpful to provide an overview of MSU Alert processes:The Michigan State University Police Department is responsible for developing and distributing Timely Warning and Emergency Notification messages. These messages are intended to warn the community about certain crimes and notify it of potentially dangerous situations on or near campus. These messages inform community members about incidents that may pose an ongoing threat and provide information to promote safety and prevent similar crimes.

  MSU Faculty, Staff, and Students: Login to the Everbridge self-help portal to manage your contact data. You will be redirected to an MSU login page to use your NetID credentials for authentication. After a successful login, you will be on the everbridge.net site to manage your information.

  All information provided is kept strictly confidential and private in accordance with the Everbridge privacy policy.

  • The primary goal of this process is to support impacted students/de-escalation/safety, and intervention.

How Are You Feeling?/ What Do You Need?

• Allow students space to share immediate feelings, reactions and thoughts. Ask what immediate needs come to mind.

Now What?/Moving Forward (Time Permitted).

• Ask students what they think is needed to move the campus forward. Frame this conversation segment not only on what the campus can collectively do but also on what they can offer individually to move us forward as a community.

Closing the Space.

A few options based on of the conversation dynamic:

• One word check in to capture how they are
• One thing they are willing to continue to support inclusivity and fostering community at MSU

Adapted from a draft by Dre Domingue, Assistant Dean of Students for Diversity & Inclusion at Davidson College, November 2018