Michigan State Athletes Will Continue to Workout on Campus

Despite recent changes to the fall semester at Michigan State University, athletes are allowed to continue their workouts on campus.

On Tuesday, Michigan State University asked undergraduate students who planned to live on campus to stay home and encouraged off-campus students to remain in their "home communities."

"Effective immediately, we are asking undergraduate students who planned to live in our residence halls this fall to stay home and continue their education with MSU remotely," said Michigan State's president Samuel L. Stanley. 

"While a vast majority of our classes already were offered in remote formats, we will work the next two weeks to transition those that were in-person or hybrid to remote formats."

However, Spartan athletes will be able to workout on campus despite the recent changes to MSU's fall semester.

"Michigan State student-athletes who are engaged in practices or workouts can return to (or stay on) campus this fall. Spartan athletics will continue to follow medical advice and local guidelines regarding the most current safety protocols and procedures for all team activities," MSU's athletic department said in a statement on Tuesday.

After Big Ten football was postponed, Michigan State football coach Mel Tucker said the Spartans began a six and a half week strength and conditioning program ran by Jason Novak and his staff.

In a Zoom press conference on Friday, Tucker told reporters he prefers his players to stay on campus because "We have tremendous resources for our players here from nutrition, mental health practitioners support there, obviously strength and conditioning, coaching and teaching and just overall connection with our players.

"Academic support is here for our players, and we have great protocols in place, a great medical staff, and just people that care about our student-athletes, care about their health, their safety, their well-being on and off the field.

"We're here for them, we want to develop them, we want to teach them, we want to motivate them, and so we would love for them to be here if they choose to do that."

On Monday, Michigan State athletics released a statement saying the university conducted over 250 COVID-19 tests from August 7-14 on athletes, coaches, and staff members.

All test results were negative.

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