The Rock is a boulder on the campus of Michigan State University. Once popular as a trysting site, today it serves as a billboard for campus groups and events. __NOTOC__

History

The Rock was unearthed in 1873 near what is now the corner of Grand River Avenue ( M-43) and Michigan Avenue in

East Lansing East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Most of the city lies within Ingham County with a smaller portion extending north into Clinton County. At the 2020 Census the population was 47,741. Located directly east of the state capital ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. It was donated to the (Michigan) State Agricultural College by the class of 1873. The college placed the rock in the "Sacred Space" near the modern day

Beaumont Tower The Beaumont Tower is a structure on the campus of Michigan State University, designed by the architectural firm of Donaldson and Meier and completed in 1928. The tower marks the site of College Hall, the first building constructed on the camp ...

, where the stone became a common hangout for young couples and became known as the " Engagement Rock". By the late 20th century, the rock had become better known for protest slogans than engagement photos. In 1985, it was moved to its current location, east of Farm Lane, on the north bank of the Red Cedar River. Today, the innumerable layers of paint obliterate the original inscription: "Class '73".

Modern use

The Rock can be painted on by anyone and is used for anything from birthday wishes and marriage proposals to political statements. The Rock is also a hot spot for rival universities to paint. As a result, during football and basketball season MSU students often camp next to the Rock to protect it. One of the most poignant moments in the history of the Rock occurred on the evening of September 11, 2001. Within hours of the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

, virtually every activist group on campus, along with the university administration, had organized an impromptu

candlelight vigil A candlelight vigil or candlelit vigil is an outdoor assembly of people carrying candles, held after sunset in order to show support for a specific cause. Such events are typically held either to protest the suffering of some marginalized group of ...

at the

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

next to the Rock. The Rock was painted green and white with the words "MSU students in remembrance and reflection" on the front, and an

American flag The national flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the ca ...

on the back. Several thousand students attended. In a break from normal rock-painting etiquette, the university asked all campus groups to abstain from repainting the Rock for one week. Lacey

On Wednesday, April 9, 2014, at 9:00 pm, hundreds gathered at the rock to hold a vigil for Lacey Holsworth, dubbed "Princess Lacey", a young 8-year-old girl with terminal cancer who befriended the MSU Basketball team. A movement, highlighted by an article in the

Detroit News ''The Detroit News'' is one of the two major newspapers in the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan. The paper began in 1873, when it rented space in the rival ''Detroit Free Press'' building. ''The News'' absorbed the ''Detroit Tribune'' on Februar ...

, sought to ban all future painting of the rock and to preserve it as a permanent memorial to Lacey. By April 21, 2014, four days after her memorial, it was repainted with the message "Congratulations graduates, be a hero to someone" marking the longest period in recent history that the rock had gone unchanged. Shortly after the MSU mass shooting that killed three students and injured five others, on February 13, 2023, the rock was painted black with the text "How many more?" in red paint and "Stay Safe MSU" below in white paint. On February 15, the message had been painted over to show a message apparently supporting gun rights stating; "Allow us to defend ourselves & carry on campus." The message was replaced the same day with a memorial to the three deceased victims and those affected, "To those we lost / to those healing" with the deceased victims first names included in the message. The Rock was painted a third time that day by Detroit-based artist Anthony Lee at the university's request. Lee's artwork included the Spartan logo and the message "Always a Spartan. Brian. Arielle. Alexandria."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rock Michigan State University campus Stone objects 1873 establishments in Michigan